Design and implementation of low-cost universal smart energy meter with demand side load management

The authors propose, design, and implement a low-cost universal smart energy meter (USEM) with demand-side load management. The meter can be used in the postpaid and prepaid modes with flexible tariff plans such as time of use, block rate tariff, and their combination. The smart meter comprises of a potential transformer, current transformer, and microcontroller unit with an embedded communication module. The connectivity among the utility authority, the smart meter, and consumer is established by authority identification number, meter identification number, and user identification number using the cellular network. The load management option of the meter controls electrical loads and provides emergency power during the power shortage. The USEM can be configured and reconfigured remotely simply by short message service without changing hardware. Besides, energy consumption status, meter tampering, and fault at the distribution end can be monitored with the proposed metering system. Here, a prototype of the smart meter is presented, and its effectiveness, flexibility, and versatility are experimentally demonstrated.