What is different or special about this smart meter, compared to “off the shelf” solutions that have been out there?
The biggest issue with smart meters is the cost. The Open Smart meter can be manufactured for about 25 USD in Nigeria (that is the cost for one meter, not ordering in bulk). We estimate that if ordering in bulk, the price could be less than 20 USD. Though your manufacturing costs may be different, this is what the cost that First Electric was able to come to in 2022.
The Open Smart Meter also offers more functionality, like being able to see an historic view on how customers are topping up and how much power has been used.
Can the Open Smart Meter be easily hacked?
The code is open source, but we think that developers will need to use the publicly available code and materials as a starting point. Adopters will need to customize the code to ensure protection. Generally speaking, we think there would not be a compelling reason for a full stack systems engineer to want hack into an Open Smart Meter, though of course, anything is possible. We should also point out here that if someone is dedicated into hacking into a system for malicious purposes, the code being open or closed won’t make much of a difference.