SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Intense competition for power and water resources will boost demand for smart meters, a new research report finds.

And while new installs in the US will peak this year, future revenue possibilities point to a lucrative market for manufacturers of printed circuit boards and electronics assemblies.

Smart meters record electrical, water or gas usage at a set interval, and then provides a way for these data, or a subset of these data, to be read electronically. The array of applications has led In-Stat to forecast worldwide smart meter revenues will eclipse $12 billion by 2016. The vast majority will be ZigBee-enabled, the research firm found.

“ZigBee has been considered the front-running short range connectivity option for smart grid since its inception, and has maintained its position so far,” says Allen Nogee, research director. “While the number of ZigBee clients in homes to date is relatively small, In-Stat believes that ZigBee will maintain its dominance."

The researches note that while wi-fi is pervasive, it lacks viability for smart grid because the application layers have never existed for wi-fi that explain exactly how those devices interact.

In-Stat also found:

• Powerline is the clear leader in backhaul connectivity from the meter to the utility. However, an increasing number of wireless solutions including cellular, white space and proprietary methods would use unlicensed and operate in mesh configuration.
• China, the world’s biggest energy consumer, is also the biggest smart meter consumer.
• The number of smart meters deployed in the US per year will decrease after peaking in 2011, but worldwide smart meter deployment will continue to grow.