By Greentech Lead America: National Technical Systems, a
provider of engineering services, has launched a comprehensive certification
program for Smart Energy devices. The new program covers new areas identified
by major utility companies as vital for new products in Smart Grid networks.
“We have worked closely with several major utilities
over the past several years to plan for the testing of their new products, and
to identify the gaps in the current testing and certification programs. We see
this as a key program that will generate new revenues for NTS as the world of
Smart Energy evolves,” said William McGinnis, president and CEO, NTS.
The new Smart Suite Certification Program is divided into
three parts including iSmart, rSmart and sSmart. Each programs focusing on key
components that are highly important in the selection of Smart Energy devicesfor utilities.
The NTS iSmart Certification focuses on interoperability
testing to verify that these devices will function correctly with other
devices. Testing covers negative, corner, functional, and other test cases not
covered by standard certification testing.
The NTS rSmart Certification focuses on the RF
(radiofrequency) performance of Smart Energy devices. Testing covers
transmission and receiving power, robustness to interference, and the impact of
building materials on the performance of these devices.
The NTS sSmart Certification focuses on the security of
these devices. Testing covers validation of trust center and security keys to
make sure that communications via the protocol are secure.
NTS, during its testing of various devices, has identified
specific areas in which standard Smart Energy certification testing is lacking,
but which utilities deem vital to products rolled out in their Smart Grid
networks.
The NTS Smart Suite Certification Program helps customers
ensure device performance like recovery from a power outage, device talk to the
meter and to other devices in the house and the device survive for long periods
of time on the network without failures.
Product failures may have cost utilities millions
of dollars in product orders because their devices were unable to pass the
utility’s pre-deployment testing. The NTS Smart Suite Certification can help
identify these issues before release.
“The NTS Smart Suite Certifications have been
designed to fill this gap in testing. Manufacturers can perform testing to
prove the quality of their products, while utilities can use testing to verify
third-party devices before approving them for use in their networks,” said
Osman Sakr, chief technology officer, NTS.
NTS recently announced expansion and enhancement of the
EMI (electromagnetic interference) capabilities at its Rustburg,
VAÂ facility.
editor@greentechlead.com
Â