ADI and Pulsar: Co-creating a smarter energy future for Africa
Image credit: Analog Devices
Pulsar and Analog Devices have co-created the GRIDx smart meter to support universal energy access, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
In sub-Saharan Africa, more than half the population lives without electricity and internet access is still considered a luxury, but this paradigm is starting to shift as more homes are being connected to the electricity grid and as the cost of internet is coming down.
Technologies like smart energy meters represent a growing opportunity to serve as critical anchor points between consumers and the grid.
Smart meters measure, record and communicate real-time electricity consumption data to utility companies. This helps consumers understand and optimise their usage while also delivering insights that can help utility providers optimise grid operations.
Namibian startup Pulsar Electronic Solutions has an even bigger vision for its innovative GRIDx smart meter. GRIDx was designed not only to enhance energy consumption, distribution and billing accuracy but also to bridge the digital divide by enabling internet access via the same device.
Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) worked closely with Pulsar to co-create GRIDx, providing deep domain expertise and intimate technical knowledge to help Pulsar overcome its unique design challenges.
An infrastructural desert
Three-quarters of the world’s unelectrified population resides in sub-Saharan Africa, facing challenges like limited infrastructure. As energy access expands, smart meters can help establish a smart energy grid. They transform consumer interactions with electricity by offering insights for accurate billing and greater control over energy use.
Utilities can use insights for strategic resource planning to balance supply and demand. Electricity theft results in revenue loss and affects grid operations, and smart meters provide essential data to help utilities minimise waste and ensure sufficient energy supply for all customers.
GRIDx came to fruition through strategic co-creation between Pulsar and ADI, with ADI providing deep domain expertise and product knowledge to help Pulsar fine-tune its printed circuit board design.
The device leverages ADI’s ADE9153A reference design, which includes metrology, convertor and mSure autocalibration technology, all in a small form factor. mSure is uniquely equipped to help utility providers maintain grid equipment health across the equipment’s lifetime by providing comprehensive accuracy monitoring and self-diagnostic capabilities.
Pulsar also selected ADI power solutions, which provide an adaptive output that tracks the battery voltage for high efficiency charging and seamlessly transitions the load to backup power if primary power is lost.
“ADI took a very proactive approach to our relationship from early on. It started with a component and grew into a partnership. They always had recommendations to help us optimise the design, minimise cost, and get better performance or multiple functions out of each component. ADI’s design support was essential in helping us push GRIDx from concept to working prototype,” said Kamati Hasheela, Pulsar Founder and CEO.
One of the most significant challenges was ensuring that the connectivity and smart metering functions did not interfere with each other. To provide these functions, GRIDx supports Bluetooth® as well as Wi-Fi and 4G coming from the network, but these different communications frequencies interfere with each other, making it highly difficult to offer these diverse functions in a single device.
Through innovative collaboration with ADI, Pulsar was able to leverage high switching frequencies to couple the high and low voltage sides of the circuit board, enabling GRIDx to support both of its primary functions without interference.
A smart future is a bright future
For Pulsar, it all started with a question: What if a single device could catalyse growth and increase access to both energy and connectivity? As Pulsar looks ahead to potential opportunities to scale and add value through GRIDx, the company is once again asking, “What if?”
What if they add net metering capabilities to encourage home solar installations? What if they tap the potential of mesh networking to reach remote regions that cannot rely on costly infrastructure like cell towers and fibre optic cables for connectivity?
ADI is proud to partner with innovators like Pulsar to help bring the emerging market of sub-Saharan Africa into the electrified and connected world.
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About Analog Devices
Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) empowers the Intelligent Edge with the most innovative analogue, digital and software solutions, accelerating breakthroughs that benefit society and the planet.
Visit www.analog.com for more information.
