Although the terms are often used interchangeably, there are differences. An intelligent energy meter shows you your electricity consumption, stores consumption values, analyses them and creates a consumption forecast. A smart meter, on the other hand, consists of an intelligent energy meter and a communication unit. This automatically transmits consumption data to energy suppliers - for example, to find out how much electricity you have fed into the grid with your PV system. Smart meters are mandatory under the Metering Point Operation Act (MsbG): from an annual consumption of 6,000 kWh or for a PV feed-in system with more than 7 kWp.