I somehow continued looking for more Shunt suppliers in smart meter space and few things I found and few questions –
- When SBCL talks about, 50 rupees opportunity for shunts in one smart meter, I wanted to understand how many shunts are the talking about?
From above pdf from the earlier post, it looks like one can use one shunt (phase element) + one CT/Hall effect sensor (neutral element), two shunts (proper isolations), two CTs (proper isolation) in the meter.
I still have not found the what configuration would be used by Genus/Secure Meter/Tata Meters/HPL etc. If someone knows it, please do share.
- I found following to be a decent reference point to understand trade offs between shunt vs CT. This is reference design of STMicro.
It talks about three phase smart meters which are used for industrial smart meters. Most of the residential smart meters are single phase smart meters (again would be good if someone with expertise confirms this, this assumption is based on various readings).
In general shunt is a better choice vs CT (accuracy, sensitivity, standalone cost etc.) but it requires proper isolation. ST Micro do have some isolator products. I am unaware of cost of it and how it fits in overall cost of smart meter. We need to figure out if Indian smart meter manufacturers are using 1 shunt + 1 CT or 2 shunts?
- I see the following list on made-in-china.com website when I search for “shunt for meter”
Few comments on few of the suppliers →
- In most cases, I am seeing that price offered by Chinese players is USD 0.31-0.35. (Rs 25 – 30 range).
Due to this, the first question becomes very important – when SBCL is talking about 50 rs opportunity per meter for Shunts – is it talking this for 1 shunt or 2 shunts?
It is good to clarify this. Given all the things we know about business quality and large market share of SBCL in world in Shunts, it is probably fair to assume that they can compete against China. But good to clarify !
Now few things about Chinese players –
GRT Relays (Zhejiang Great Electrical Company Ltd)
What I find out interesting about above page was – “Export to India for Smart Meter” part in title.
Jiaxing Haihan Electronic Co. Ltd
http://xjsjme.r23.35.com/cate-21285-21406.html
The most interesting thing about the link above is – it is a catalogue for shunts and there are product SKUs from HS01-HS43 !
HEYI Electrical Solutions
Final Comments
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Overall, I am not sure if smart meter shunt can be compared to say EV shunt. Based on competitive landscape and number of suppliers present in China, this segment does look far more competitive.
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Balance of probability is that SBCL is competitive against Chinese suppliers based on whatever we know about their strengths. But it would still be best to clarify this ! (We do not want to be in scenario where SBCL wants to sell 1 shunt for 50 Rs vs Chinese suppliers giving it for 25-30Rs. for smart meters)
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The SBCL story for shunts in Smart Meter segment will get a turbo boost if there were tarrif/non-tariff barriers against Chinese suppliers. The question whether there would be blanket barriers against Chinese suppliers is not fully settled in my mind.
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Most of the Chinese players in above list seem to have several components of smart meters available with them. (The usual single product vs basket argument that gets used).
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SBCL has said that they have 65-70% market share in single phase meter shunts. At 0.7cr meters installed * 50 rs per meter – this is 35cr opportunity, 25cr revenue for SBCL (and not in a single year).
When total opportunity goes to 23cr * 50 rs = 1150cr (over 5-7 years) and we have Chinese suppliers who offer basket of products – what is the probability that this market share will still remain 60-70% ?
Disc – same as before
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