Engidaw proposal final

ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF LATE ELECTRIC ENERGY METER READING AND
DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION
BY
Engidaw Abel (M.sc.) & Yihenew Alemu(B.Sc.)
( Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering)
Debre Markos University
Debre Markos Institute of Technology
A Research Proposal
on
July 2017
Debre Markos, Ethiopia

THE IMPACT OF LATE ELECTRIC ENERGY METER READING AND DEVELOPMENT OF
ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................1
1.1.Background ........................................................................................................................1
1.2. Statement of the Problem....................................................................................................2
1.3.Objective of the study..........................................................................................................3
1.3.1.General Objective .........................................................................................................3
1.3.2.Specific Objective .........................................................................................................3
1.4.Expected Outcomes.............................................................................................................3
2.LITERATURE REVIEW...........................................................................................................4
3.METHODOLOGY AND MATERIALS....................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.1.General Procedure...............................................................................................................8
3.2.Materials and tools ..............................................................................................................8
3.3 General system diagram.......................................................................................................9
4.RESEARCH BUDGET (COST BREAKDOWN) ......................................................................10
5.SCHEDULE............................................................................................................................11
6.REFERENCES........................................................................................................................12

1
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1.Background
Electrical power has become indispensable to human survival and progress. Apart from
efforts to meet growing demand, automation in the energy distribution is also necessary to
enhance people’s life standard [1]. In electric power distribution system, the utility company
and the customer meet at a point called electric energy meter locally called “Qotari”.
Traditionally, in Ethiopia, electricity meter reading is accomplished by human operator,
which makes it difficult to meet the future residential development needs.
Collection of meter readings is also inefficient, because a meter reader has to be physically
onsite to take the readings. This method of collecting meter readings becomes more
problematic and costly when readings have to be collected from vast, and often scattered
rural areas. Meter readers are reluctant to make the effort to travel to such areas and will
often submit inaccurate estimations of the amount of electricity consumed. For households at
the top of high buildings and luxury housing plots, traditional meter reading is highly
inefficient. There exists a chance for missing bills, absence of consumer (if energy meter is
located indoor), etc. Even though conventional electromechanical meters were replaced with
more efficient electronic energy meters these problems still persist [1].
As a result payments made by a single customer largely varies from month to month without
much difference in actual energy consumption. This variation is the result of late meter
readings that brings about high multiplier of energy units when calculating the bill, which
results in higher energy expenses against the customer without committing any fault.
The electric energy tariff depends on the amount of meter readings for residential and
commercial customers, and time of the day for medium and large industries.
Therefore, for residential and commercial customers, if the meter reading is not taken for
each month correctly, it adds up with the next month reading that results in the next higher
tariff category when calculating the bills. For example, for a customer whose monthly
average energy consumption is 200 kWh, if the reading is taken correctly for each month, the
maximum tariff is ETB 0.4993/kWh and at the end of the month, the bill will be 81.4
ETB/month without including the fixed charges. However, if the reading is not taken for the
previous three consecutive months, at the end of the fourth month, the maximum tariff will

2
be ETB 0.60943/kWh and therefore the bill increases to 108.70 ETB/month with an increase
in 33.5%.
Moreover, the actual readings of meters and the value put in the bill are usually not the same
at the end of each billing period.
The problem worsens when the house that belongs to a particular energy meter is for renting.
The bill for the first person who rents the house may not be collected correctly, and therefore,
the reading will be collected after three or four months, in the meantime, the renter may leave
that house, and the cost comes against the house owner or the new renter who did not
actually use the energy.
Therefore, to solve such problems, a new method of postpaid electronic energy metering is
needed which will automatically sense the used energy, records these reading continuously,
then sends it to the billing point and to the customer(for notification of energy consumed and
the date of paying bills) through the existing GSM network. Finally, after processing the
collected data, bill is generated using a desktop based application software and is sent back to
the customer as SMS (Short Messaging System). If the customer does not pay the calculated
amount of bill within the specified time, the system shuts down and establishes the
connection when the bill is paid, automatically without requiring traveling to the customer
location,
1.2. Statement of the Problem
Ethiopia is a developing country with most of its people having no access to electric energy.
Although the energy access is very low, the customers having energy access are also heard
complaining on different issues raised against the electricity service providing company
called Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU). Some customers feel cheated by the EEU workers;
others still complain that the EEU is not providing genuine service. Most of these and other
complaints are the result of late energy meter reading as the meter readings are not taken just
at the end of each month. The payments against the customers for electric energy usage is
very low sometimes, but very high later resulting in confusion and complaints.
Even though, the EEU workers who are responsible for energy meter reading are expected to
take readings every month, they usually do not do this, instead they take the reading after two
or three months or they make rough estimations. This practice brings high-energy tariff
multiplier to the energy reading and late income collection to the EEU. Consequently, the

3
customers are forced to pay high costs and feel confused which then brings complaints
against the EEU.
Therefore, this research is going to find out the socio-economic impact of late energy meter
reading on both the customers and the EEU, and develop a smart energy metering and billing
system ,which enables the EEU collect bills every month, to be proposed to the EEU to use it
in the future.
1.3. Objective of the study
1.3.1. General Objective
The main aim of this study is to find out the socio-economic impact of late energy meter
reading on the electric energy customers and EEU; and to come up with a technological
solution.
1.3.2. Specific Objective
i) To quantify unfair energy charges paid by customers because of late energy
reading
ii) To quantify the income which is not collected on time by the EEU because of late
energy meter reading
iii) To design and simulate an automatic smart energy meter (AMR)
iv) To build and test an AMR prototype
v) To propose the AMR to the EEU
1.4. Expected Outcomes
This research work will probably benefit the whole Ethiopia where most of the electric
energy customers are charged unfairly. It also helps the EEU to collect its income every
month without getting much complains against it. The research will bring better governance
to the EEU office and increased customer satisfaction.

4
2.LITERATURE REVIEW
Over the past years, electric energy meters have undergone phenomenal changes and are
expected to become even more sophisticated, offering more and more services.
The electromechanical-based energy meters are rapidly being replaced by digital energy
meters that offer high accuracy and precision.
In order to overcome the problems of the existing traditional meter reading system, efforts
are underway around the world to automate the meter reading systems and to provide
comprehensive information to the consumer for efficient use of utilities.
Researchers have proposed different implementation techniques for automatic energy meter
reading systems.
Ashna K. [1] proposed a system, which replaces traditional meter reading methods and
enables remote access of existing energy meter by the energy provider. A GSM based
wireless communication module is integrated with electronic energy meter of each entity to
have remote access over the usage of electricity. A PC with a GSM receiver at the other end,
which contains the database acts as the billing point. Live meter reading from the GSM
enabled energy meter is sent back to the billing point periodically and these details are
updated in a central database. A new interactive, user friendly graphical user interface is
developed using Microsoft visual studio .NET framework and C#. With proper
authentication, users can access the developed web page details from anywhere in the world.
The complete monthly usage and due bill is messaged back to the customer after processing
these data.
Anand [2] proposed a system, which consists of GSM digital power meter installed in every
consumer unit. A GSM modem is connected to the energy meter. Each modem will be
having its own SIM. The SIM card used is implemented in energy meter and it sends a
message to the user about the due bill. A LCD is used in the hardware module for the user
interface. The LCD displays the current usage and units consumed. Here the system operates
in two modes. First mode is depends up on the time and the second mode is depends up on
the usage of power. For every 30 days the information is sent to the electricity board office

5
regarding the units by using GSM. The user can pay the amount just by knowing the given
code, which is fed in the meter. If that consumer does not pay the bill then from the EB
(ELECTRICITY BOARD) office the power is switched off. `After paying the bill the power
is connected to that consumer by sending a command from the EB (ELECTRICITY
BOARD) office. If in case the required energy usages have achieved within 30 days then the
power will be shut down immediately.
Aswathy P.R [3] proposed energy metering system, which consists of energy meter,
communication using Ethernet and webserver. A single-phase energy meter has been
implemented using ARDUINO microcontroller and communication part has been
implemented using Ethernet communication. Server and consumer end are implemented in
webserver. This meter is able to measure energy and will communicate the data to the
electricity board, which stores the information and notify the consumer through SMS
messages.
Mejbaul Haque [4] presents a single phase digital prepaid energy meter based on two
microcontrollers and a single-phase energy meter IC. This digital prepaid energy meter does
not have any rotating parts. The energy consumption is calculated using the output pulses of
the energy meter chip and the internal counter of microcontroller (ATmega32). A
microcontroller (ATtiny13) is used as a smart card and the numbers of units recharged by the
consumers are written in it. A relay system has been used which either isolates or establishes
the connection between the electrical load and energy meter through the supply mains
depending upon the units present in the smart card. Energy consumption (kWh), maximum
demand (kW), total unit recharged (kWh) and rest of the units (kWh) are stored in the
ATmega32 to ensure the accurate measurement even in the event of an electrical power
outage that can be easily read from a 20×4 LCD. As soon as the supply is restored, energy
meter restarts with the stored values. A single-phase prepaid energy meter prototype has been
implemented to provide measurement up to 40A load current and 230V line to neutral
voltage.Necessary program for microcontrollers are written in c-language and compiled by
Win-AVR libc compiler.
Rohit Upadhyay [5] developed a cost effective novel single phase digital energy meter with
the help of an Automatic Remote Metering(ARM) based microcontroller which is capable of
calculating true values of active, reactive and apparent power, power factor, Total Harmonic

6
Distortion (THD) and energy consumed. The designed meter is simple, portable and easily
reconfigurable according to specific needs. The parameters calculated are transmitted to the
billing station through wired means of communication thus eliminating the need for the
utility personnel to visit each home individually for noting the meter readings/generating the
bill. This data logged in, is used for generating bills, and can be used for analysis in order to
improve the power quality and understand the load and usage pattern. The detailed bill
generated can be mailed to the customer’s Email ID and minimal information extracted from
this bill can be sent to the user’s registered mobile number automatically via SMS.
Amruta Kotasthane [6] designed and implemented wireless sensor network for measuring
utilities such as electricity and water. The system is designed using electric meter, flow
sensor for measuring utilities, ARM controller LPC2138 as core processor, and ZigBee
module in close communication with GSM for distant communication. This system performs
tasks such as taking meter reading, distribution of bills, sending notice, cutting and
reconnection of flow automatically. This model can lead to great deal of costs saving in water
and electricity metering.
A.A.Noman [7] developed android-based smart energy meter that enables all parameters to
be observed easily. The important features of this system are its mobility, low cost, easy to
maintenance and monitoring the total system. The process is started with the main 220V AC
line that is delivered from power line. A voltage and a current sensor measure line voltage
and load current respectively. These sensors are connected with the microcontroller. Then
active power, reactive power and apparent power can be calculated using different
mathematical equations of the system. The measured data will be displayed in LCD and
transmitted to the android device via Bluetooth module and it will be sent to the android
device.
K.Sheelasobanarani [8] demonstrated the use of prepaid energy meter system by using
Proteus 8 simulation software. The major components used are PIC microcontroller, Voltage
and Current transformer, LCD, relay and a load.
W.D.A.S. Rodrigo [9] designed and implemented a digital prepaid energy meter that is
affordable for domestic consumers in a developing country like Sri Lanka. The prepaid
energy meter described is a single phase 230V/40A energy meter which consist of a metering
device designed according to the IEC1036 (1996-09) standard and a prepaid module that uses

7
GSM/GPRS technology to communicate with the utility server.
Sneha Salunkhe [10] proposed a processing flow, which captures the image of meter readings
by using camera, then the captured image is pre-processed and characters are recognized by
processor using contour algorithm, billing is done by taking difference between two readings
of consecutive months and send it to the respective server for documentation using wireless
technology.
Having reviewed all the above literatures, this research first will find out how much it is
relevant to use automatic energy meter reading systems from economical and customer
satisfaction point of view. Then an automatic energy meter system will be developed with the
following features inside.
i. Calculates the energy consumption of the customer
ii. Stores the energy consumption for a month
iii. Sends the energy consumed in kWh to the EEU on request
iv. Notifies the customer for paying bill
v. Sends an SMS alert for the customer when the power consumption is abnormal
(unusual)
vi. Disconnects the load remotely if the payment is not performed within specified
time and connects the load back whenever payment is made.

8
3.METHODOLOGY AND MATERIALS
3.1.General Procedure
Figure 1.general procedure of the study
3.2.Materials and tools
The following materials are required to build automatic energy meter reading system:
Table 1. List of materials
# Materials description # Materials description
1 Arduino microcontroller 10 LCD display
2 GSM modem 11 Real time clock
Data
Collection
•Sample bill
data
•Sample
meter
readings
Analysis
• Finding the
average cost
incurredby the
customer
AMR system
design
•designofthe
proposed
systemwhich
can solve the
problem
Modeling
and
simulation
•Model the systemusing
appropriate software
•Developmentofcustomer
database using C#
•Testthe designedsystem
using simulation
Prototype
developemnt
•build the prototype
using hardware
components
•testthe prototype
writing up
the research
•Research
report
preparation

9
3 SIM card 12 Energy meter
4 Electrolytic Capacitors 13 Current sensor
5 Resistors 14 RS-232
6 Voltage Regulator 15 Circuit construction board
7 Diodes 16 Transformer
8 Transistors 17 Transformer
9 Voltage sensor 18 Relay/contactor
Moreover, the following software tools are required to accomplish the project.
a. Proteus professional software for design and simulation
b. C# for data base development
c. Microsoft excel for economic impact analysis
3.3 General systemdiagram
Fig.2. proposed system diagram

10
4.RESEARCH BUDGET (COST BREAKDOWN)
Table 2.material cost
No. Item list
Measurement
Unit Quantity
Unit Price
(ETB)
Total Cost
(ETB)
1
Arduino
Microcontroller PCs 4.0 1500.0 6000.00
2 GSM Modem PCs 4.0 1500.0 6000.00
3 Transformer PCs 4.0 100.0 400.00
4 LCD display PCs 4.0 500.0 2000.00
5 Diodes PCs 16.0 16.0 256.00
6 Electrolyte Capacitors PCs 10.0 50.0 500.00
7 Resistors PCs 15.0 20.0 300.00
8 Transistors PCs 15.0 50.0 750.00
9 LED PCs 20.0 5.0 100.00
10 Voltage regulator PCs 8.0 50.0 400.00
11 RS-232 PCs 4.0 200.0 800.00
12
circuit construction
board PCs 4.0 100.0 400.00
13 current sensor PCs 4.0 200.0 800.00
14 voltage sensor Pcs 4.0 500.0 2000.00
15 Real time clock Pcs 4.0 101.0 404.00
16 12VDC relay PCs 4.0 50.0 200.00
17 SIM Card PCs 4.0 15.0 60.00
Subtotal (ETB) 21,370.00
Table 3.logistics costs
No. Cost item
Measurement
unit
Quantity
Unit Cost
(ETB)
Total cost
(ETB)
1
data collection
(Debre Markos)
Days 30 100 3000.00
2
Perdiem for trip for
material
purchase(Addis
Abeba)
days 18 206 3708.00
3 Transport trips 8 109 872.00
4 Contingency 2500
subtotal 10080.00
Total cost 31,450.00

11
5.SCHEDULE
Table 4.Research time schedule
No.
Activity
Months (2010 EC)
Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May. Jun. Jul.
1 Data collection
2 Data analysis
3 System design
4
Modeling and
simulation
5 Material Purchase
6 Prototype developemnt
7 Testing and finalizing
8 writing up

12
6.REFERENCES
[1] K.Ashna, "GSM based automatic energy meter reading," IEEE, pp. 65-71, March 2013.
[2] Anand, "Energy meter reading initiator using ATMEGA328," International Journal of
Advanced Research Trends in Engineering and Technology, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 173-177,
April 2016.
[3] P. Aswathy, "An Automated Energy Metering System," International Journal of
Advanced Research in Electrical, Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering, vol. 3,
no. 3, pp. 8064-8069, March 2014.
[4] M. Haque, "Microcontroller Based Single Phase Digital Prepaid Energy Meter for
improved metering and billing system," International Journal of Power Electronics and
Drive System (IJPEDS), vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 139-147, 2011.
[5] R. Upadhyay, "ARM based smart single phase energy meter with automatic bill
generation and SMS alert," International Journal of Industrial Electronics and
Electrical Engineering, vol. 4, no. 7, pp. 179-185, July 2016.
[6] A. kotasthane, "Implementation of Automatic Meter Reading System Using Wireless
Sensor Network," International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer
Engineering & Technology (IJARCET), vol. 2, no. 12, pp. 3030-3032, 2013.
[7] A.A.Noman, "ANDROID BASED SMART ENERGY METER," in 4th National
Conference on Natural Science and Technology, Asian University for Woman,
Chittagong, Bangladesh, March 2017.
[8] K.Sheelasobanarani, " An integrated prepaid energy meter using GSM," International
Journal of Industrial Electronics and Electrical Engineering, vol. 2, no. 5, pp. 5-7, May
2014.
[9] W. Rodrigo, "A prepaid energy meter using GPRS/GSM Technology for improved
metering and billing," International Journal of Computer Science and Electronics
Engineering (IJCSEE), vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 64-69, 2016.
[10] S. Salunkhe, "A Review: Automatic meter reading using image processing,"
International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering & Management
(IJAIEM), vol. 5, no. 6, pp. 68-70, 2016.

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