Smart Metering for Challenging Scenarios: A Low-Cost, Self-Powered and Non-Intrusive IoT Device

Area of Science:

• Electrical Engineering
• Energy Harvesting Technologies
• Wireless Sensor Networks

Background:

• Traditional current metering often requires intrusive installation and external power sources.
• Technological constraints in developing regions and rural areas limit access to advanced metering infrastructure.
• Existing energy harvesting and wireless communication solutions are not typically integrated for standalone current metering.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel, non-intrusive current metering device for diverse and technologically constrained environments.
• To enable autonomous operation through energy harvesting from ambient magnetic fields.
• To facilitate remote data transmission using low-power wide-area networks.

Main Methods:

• Designed a device utilizing magnetic field induction for energy harvesting and powering the metering functions.
• Implemented a minimal power consumption system for efficient operation with harvested energy.
• Integrated Sigfox wireless communication for reliable, wide-area data transmission.
• Validated theoretical design through component-level performance assessments and system integration tests.

Main Results:

• The device successfully harvested energy from the magnetic field around electrical wires.
• Perpetual operation was demonstrated under specific conditions: 3.1 A average current for 15-minute metering intervals, or 5 A for 5-minute intervals.
• Real-world scenario testing confirmed the system's viability and autonomous functionality.

Conclusions:

• The developed current metering device provides a viable, self-powered solution for electricity monitoring in challenging environments.
• The integration of energy harvesting and wireless communication enables long-term, autonomous data acquisition and transmission.
• This technology has the potential to significantly improve energy management and access in underserved regions.