# Telecommunication Technologies for Smart Grid Projects with Focus on Smart Metering Applications
## 4 Smart Metering Applications--Smart Grid Projects
### Remarks--Trends on the Smart Grid Research Field  
By taking a closer look at the projects analysed in the previous subsections, some conclusions can be deducted regarding the topics that mostly attract the scientific interest in the smart grid field. It should be noted that all the projects selected to be examined in this survey involve directly or indirectly smart meter applications. The list of projects is not exhaustive. Other projects examining similar topics may have been realized. Concerning the projects examined in this work, it can be concluded that focus is given to energy consumption reduction, for instance through consumptions monitoring and customer feedback. In 15 of the 50 examined projects energy consumption reduction issues are studied. Such research can involve in-home or building energy management and consumption reduction. It is also worth noting that four of these projects deal with energy services in public buildings, like schools and sport facilities. Smart metering for grid monitoring has been the topic for 6 of the projects listed in Section 4. In particular, their scope has been to obtain real-time data resulting in an accurate network depiction. In one of these projects, PMUs have also been utilized for this purpose, whereas another one of them addresses issues of identifying an electrical device by the consumption characteristics it entails. The integration and monitoring of RES in the grid is the subject of research for 19 of the 50 projects examined in this survey. In five of them, renewable energy sources are constructed for the projects' scope, like for instance photovoltaic systems, energy plants or wind turbines. In addition, two of these 19 projects focus on improving industrial areas, like ports, in terms of energy efficiency. Among the examined projects, there are two that study issues related to microgrids and one that focuses on energy consumption reduction for lighting. In addition, among the examined projects, there are three that focus on consultation purposes. Two of these three projects aim at providing with information regarding smart metering options and promoting smart metering applications, while the third one targets the smart grid development through consultation to companies. Although there are many projects that entail customer engagement, regarding energy consumptions, an issue that lacks attention are the effects, if any and at which extent, to human health caused by the automation of the grid. For example, the insertion of numerous wireless transceivers within the home or not, increases the total transmitted radiation. It would be interesting to inform the general public about such issues, thus potentially enhancing the overall active involvement of individuals. It is noticeable that from the analysed projects, only in three of them it is explicitly stated that interoperability issues are addressed. Interoperability for smart metering applications is very important, since it assures the correct function of the smart metering system, even in case the end users change energy provider. In general, interoperability among devices guarantees that the operation of the entire system is not compromised in case these devices are replaced by others. For the correct operation of the future grid, interoperability issues will need to be overcome. Therefore, it is a topic that is expected to attract more the scientific interest. As it can be concluded from our analysis, a topic on which special attention is given is grid and energy management, since 20 out of the 50 projects analysed, address such issues. Grid automation, optimization, stabilization and grid control are some of the issues examined in these projects. It is noticeable that 10 of these 20 projects deal also with the integration of RES in the grid, mostly in terms of utilizing the energy produced by RES in the most effective way and studying the effect of the energy distribution on the grid.