Smart Meter

Abstract

Old-fashioned forms of electricity meter reading are still dependent heavily on manual works and as a result, billing cycles are prolonged, possibilities for energy consumption and management are very few, and errors are commonplace. The problems facing consumers, on the other hand, are nigh endless, for instance, high operational costs, little to no consumption details, and little control over energy usage. This document describes the best in class energy monitoring system that makes use of current and voltage sensors and LoRa based sensor network for hand-held devices and systems within consumer premises. It also makes sure that data flow is accurate and reliable by eliminating human error and data interception by management control, through enabling two way communication between consumer’s devices and Metering Service Control Board’s (MSCB) services. The improvements in billing accuracy, the efficiency of data gathering and the savings in costs were especially impactful.

Introduction

Current energy management systems are inefficient due to outdated metering technology relying on manual data collection, causing errors, delays, and energy wastage. To overcome these issues, a Smart Meter system integrating IoT and advanced metering infrastructure is proposed. This system uses current and voltage sensors combined with LoRa communication to enable real-time, accurate energy monitoring and automated billing across residential, commercial, and industrial sectors, reducing human intervention and promoting energy efficiency.

The literature review highlights various IoT-based smart metering solutions using LoRa, ZigBee, and GSM technologies, emphasizing their benefits and limitations in terms of power consumption, range, scalability, and cost. LoRa is noted for long-range, low-power communication but faces challenges with high traffic and scalability, while ZigBee and GSM offer alternatives with different trade-offs.

The proposed system employs Arduino ESP8266 microcontrollers, GSM modules, and sensors to collect and transmit energy data to a cloud platform, providing real-time consumption monitoring, alerts, and remote control features such as power disconnection. It also includes local data backup and supports user notifications via mobile apps or SMS.

Testing confirmed the system’s effective long-range data transmission (up to 10 km) over LoRa networks with low power consumption and latency, validating its suitability for scalable deployment. However, broader tests under congested conditions are needed to fully assess operational efficiencies.

Conclusion

The project tackles the shortcomings of the traditional energy monitoring system by providing the means for real-time data acquisition, automatic billing, and effective power management, thanks to IoT-based smart energy meters. The communication technologies used are based on LoRa, offering reliable data transmission over long distances while consuming less power, making it an excellent choice for suburban and rural areas where Internet connectivity is less reliable. Some salient features of the system are remote energy monitoring, billing notifications, and power control, which add to the ease of use and encourage the conservation of energy. Cloud integration allows easy storage and remote portability of the data while performing local backups for safety when live network faults occur. Some preliminary tests tried out and confirmed to the system refined communication; data transference without much energy consumption; thus, it is reliable and expandable. Large-scale testing is necessary since the application must be able to be tested under both network-congested conditions and obvious environmental changes. To conclude: the project is heading toward dynamic energy management reforms, scalable, cost-effective, and simplifies the solution towards the fast-approaching sustainable energy practices.

References

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Copyright

Copyright © 2025 Amruta Amune , Hariom Hinge, Rushikesh Godse, Ayush Domble, Chetan Dombale. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.