An electrical energy meter measures and records electrical power consumed over time by electrical appliance. Energy meter can be electromechanical or electronic-based, and it can be deployed in domestic or industrial environment.
However, electromechanical meters have been with us for a very long time, it is of late that electronic meters start to appear in electrical metering scene. The manual reading of electromechanical meter for the purpose of billing is fraught with many social and management problems.
This paper presents a simple automatic smart device developed to automate the process of remote meter reading, remote-billing, and remote disconnection, in case of defaulting in payment, of existing electromechanical energy meter without modification.
INTRODUCTION
An electrical energy meter measures and records electrical power consumed over time by electrical appliance. Energy meter can be electromechanical or electronic-based, and it can be deployed in domestic or industrial, that is commercial, environment. However, electromechanical meters have been with us for a very long time, it is of late that electronic meters start to appear in electrical metering scene. Electromechanical meters have technical, social, and management problems.
The technical problems are manifested by the moving parts of an electromechanical meter, which cause wear and tear vis-à-vis its magnetic component whose operation depends on prevailing temperature. These culminate into errors which degrade the reliability and accuracy of the meter over time. The manual reading of electromechanical meter for the purpose of billing is fraught with many social and management problems. Some of these problems are possible lock-out of a meter from easy accessibility, human error in reading, gross inaccurate estimated reading, controversial billing, lack of information on detailed breakdown of energy consumption over a period of time, irregularities in billing time, tampering prone, high overhead cost of meter reading, and possible misplaced paper bill.
The existing manual method of disconnecting the power lines to the meter has its own wagon of disadvantages ranging from exposure of the meter readers to corrupt practices, illegal reconnection of the power lines, bypassing of the energy meter, and very weak conditional access enforcement. Therefore, manual reading, billing, and enforcement of conditional access are either inefficient or inadequate and tantamount to aiding and abetting diversion of revenue to unauthorized people. It is certain that in a deregulated electrical energy economy, something has to be done to remedy these shortcomings. The answer to these problems is provided by electronic energy metering.
Author: IBIYEMI Tunji Samuel
Source: Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Source: Cape Peninsula University of Technology
For more details & discussions check out : e-metering of electrical energy with telebilling
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