Internet of Things Concept for Improving Energy Metering in Power Distribution Networks

• Author(s): Iloh J.P. ; Odigbo A.C. ; Mbachu C.B.
• Paper ID: 1704506
• Page: 632-641
• Published Date: 27-05-2023
• Published In: Iconic Research And Engineering Journals
• Publisher: IRE Journals
• e-ISSN: 2456-8880
• Volume/Issue: Volume 6 Issue 11 May-2023

Abstract

One of the challenges being encountered by energy consumers and distribution companies in Nigeria is the inability of both the customer and the distribution company to monitor and control the customer’s energy consumption remotely and in real time. In the current metering scheme, there is no real time bidirectional communication between the customers’ energy meters and the utility companies. This work therefore, is aimed at improving energy metering in power distribution networks using the Internet of Things (IoT) concept. Using this approach, the IoT technology enables an internet-based control and monitoring system which automatically processes real time measurement data, displays the results on the energy meter display unit (liquid crystal display - LCD), and sends same results to both the customer’s and the utility company’s webpage simultaneously. The system also has the ability to process control signals from both the customer and the utility company frontends and take control actions whenever necessary. In this work, the existing JP-01 energy meter model was adopted and enhanced by replacing the ZMCT103C current transformer and the PIC16F873A microcontroller with ACS712 Hall Effect current sensor and ESP32 Wi-Fi enabled microcontroller respectively in the energy meter architecture. The IoT-based energy meter firmware was programmed using the Arduino Integrated Development Environment (IDE). The web application enabling internet communication between the energy meter and remote devices (computers or mobile phones with internet access) was developed using the Firebase platform. Access to the system database was designed in a manner that only users with the unique log in details of the customer or utility administrators can view the meter data over the internet and issue control commands as desired. The IoT-based energy meter prototype was built, tested and the test results were used to evaluate the system performance. During the tests, the energy meter accurately measured mains voltage in volts (V), instantaneous current in amperes (A), instantaneous power in kilowatts (kW) and energy consumed in kilowatt-hours (kWh) and displayed same results simultaneously (in real-time) on the meter’s LCD and on the webpages of both the customer’s remote device and the utility company’s remote device over the internet. Control actions such as TURN ON, TURN OFF and SET LOAD LIMIT were also successfully implemented remotely both from the customer’s end and the utility company’s end. Thus, with this IoT-based energy metering concept, a real-time bidirectional monitoring and control of the customer’s energy consumption was effectively achieved.

Keywords

Arduino IDE, ESP32 microcontroller, Firebase software, Internet of Things (IoT).

Citations

IRE Journals:
Iloh J.P. , Odigbo A.C. , Mbachu C.B. "Internet of Things Concept for Improving Energy Metering in Power Distribution Networks" Iconic Research And Engineering Journals Volume 6 Issue 11 2023 Page 632-641

IEEE:
Iloh J.P. , Odigbo A.C. , Mbachu C.B. "Internet of Things Concept for Improving Energy Metering in Power Distribution Networks" Iconic Research And Engineering Journals, 6(11)