1

A Flexible IoT Energy Monitoring Solution

Danielly B. Avancini1 , Simion G. B. Martins1 , Ricardo A. L. Rabêlo2 , Petar Solic3 , Joel J. P. C. Rodrigues1,4,5
1 National Institute of Telecommunications (Inatel), Santa Rita do Sapucaí - MG, Brazil
2 Federal University of Piauí (UFPI), Teresina-PI, Brazil
3 University of Split, Split, Croatia
4 Instituto de Telecomunicações, Portugal
5 University of Fortaleza (UNIFOR), Fortaleza - CE, Brazil

danielly.avancini@mtel.inatel.br, simiongustavo@gea.inatel.br, ricardoalr@ufpi.edu.br, psolic@fesb.hr,

joeljr@ieee.org

Abstract— Energy management is a current major concern
due to several reasons. Increasing energy consumption brought
new challenges to energy networks, leading their development
towards an intelligent direction with the advent of smart meters.
Intelligence in energy systems provides results in many hetero-
geneous applications taking advantage from IoT, such as energy
delivery efficiency, reliability, and fault recovery. Energy in smart
environments is an important research topic of IoT since energy
efficiency is vital for the environment and global sustainability.
Smart meters create the basis for intelligent energy networks,
providing real-time information regarding quality and usage
of appliances, data consumption, and energy flow information.
Besides, the use of an energy management system, capable for
collecting data from distinct sensors, generate various reports
using collected data, and perform alarm reports based on data
analysis, is a need for both consumers and suppliers. The authors
proposed, designed, and implemented a cost effective three phase
smart energy meter, IoT enabled, multi-protocol and modular,
capable to collect, process, and transmit several electric energy
related information, mainly focused on consumer-side, to any
smart energy control system. It is also proposed the use of
a specific software platform to manage collected information,
performing data analysis and post-processing. The proposed
platform is client-server based, expandable, and future-proof,
allowing further integration.
Index Terms— Energy Efficiency; Energy Management Sys-
tem; Smart Places; Intelligent Energy Networks; Internet of
Energy; Internet of Things (IoT); Smart Energy; Smart Energy
Meter.
I. I NTRODUCTION
HE significant increase of global energy consumption
T brings new challenges to energy networks [1]. It is
estimated that residential and commercial buildings represent
approximately half of the total world energy consumption.
Smart sensors communications are critical due the fact that
sensors collect and transmit very important real-time moni-
toring data, such as temperature, occupancy behavior, outdoor
environment, humidity, light intensity, electricity quality and
consumption, etc. These sensor networks placed in different
buildings and environments can be abstracted and integrated
into the same virtual network, which provides the benefit of
allowing multiple smart environments to be remotely managed
by a centralized controller [2]. Therefore, Internet of Things
(IoT) can provide new alternatives to smart sensors networks,
including smart energy meters. IoT can provide new criteria
for sharing data and information among smart sensors. In
this context, IoT can allow these sensors to share informa-
tion by using wireless communication improving the network
management. In addition, smart sensors must cooperate and
satisfy several features, such as being dynamically adaptable
to scenarios and changing conditions as well as being able
to monitoring and predict electrical energy consumption, for
example [3]. Through IoT, the entire power grid chain, both
generation and consumption, will become intelligent. Two-way
communication provided by IoT networks enables capabilities
for power grid monitoring and control anywhere and anytime
[4].
In modern energy systems, sensors and transducers will
have a significant role for energy monitoring, in real-time,
according to demand. Smart sensors can provide new oppor-
tunities for energy consumption or generation measurement,
and data processing, including decisions on real-time [3]. This
modern concept involves new challenges for energy network
researchers. Several defiance and issues must be faced, such as
the development of new efficient and smart sensing systems,
capable for attending this dynamic scenario of energy networks
[3]. Chasing a better energy quality and efficiency has been
considered essential to stimulate the development of Intelligent
Energy Networks (IENs) all over the world [1] [5].
Smart energy meters plays most important rule in IENs,
monitoring energy consumption or energy generation and
even controlling appliances. These smart devices can ex-
change energy consumption information between companies
and consumers. Two-way communication is a key feature
that distinguish smart devices from non-smart ones [6]. These
equipments record electricity consumption or generation in-
formation in small time intervals, using voltage and current
sensors, and send this information to a central system for
monitoring and other purposes [2]. Smart energy meters are
not widely studied on research publications, unlike smart grids
and IENs. Technologies about smart metering are advancing
substantially. However, there are important issues to address in
order to promote this development, like inter-operation stan-
dards for equipments [5], [7]–[9]. Then, this paper proposes
the development of an IoT based smart energy sensor, capable
to attend IENs demand, such as real-time energy quality and

consumption monitoring, and flexible for being integrated to
any existing wired or wireless network communication. It
also proposes an integrated energy management system for
monitoring and control smart sensors in smart environments.
Such solutions are proposed to create a centralized control for
whole smart environment.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section II
elaborates on a background analysis related to energy meter
and IENs. The project and development of an IoT based
smart energy meter able for power monitoring, in real-time, is
described in Section III while Section IV presents the proposed
energy management system. Conclusion and future works are
considered in Section V.
II. BACKGROUND
Electromechanical meters are the most common type of
electricity meter. They measure electricity flows by counting
the revolutions of a metal disc, which rotates at a proportional
speed to the energy metered. These equipments do not aggre-
gate intelligence to energy monitoring systems [10]. In other
hand, electronic meters are integrated with many advanced
features, based on Digital Micro Technology (DMT) and do
not depend on mechanical moving parts. Electronic meters are
becoming "smarter" as technology advances, providing real-
time consumption information and other parameters to cos-
tumers and suppliers, using two-way communication. Bidirec-
tional communication distinguishes smart meters from regular
meters [11].
Smart energy meters measure the amount of electrical
energy consumed or generated by the consumer in kilowatt
hour (kWh) unit. Other parameters commonly measured are
real power, reactive power, apparent power, voltage, current,
and frequency. To calculate electrical energy consumption it
is necessary to have three parameters: voltage, current, and
power factor. These parameters are measured by the voltage
sensor, current sensor, and zero crossing detector [12].
Many comprehensive functions have been developed and
added into smart energy meters based on two-way communi-
cation. These technical and logical improvements extend the
applicability of smart energy meters, facilitating technological
upgrade from conventional meters to smart energy meters
[13]. Another important aspect regarding smart energy meters
is modularization: basic meters with an open structure can
receive new modules with new functionalities as needed,
allowing its usage for more than just electric energy meter
purposes [11].
Every energy meter must perform a regular and precise
metering of energy consumption. One of IENs purposes is
to reduce energy consumption and improve energy network
quality, adjusting supplied and demanded energy. To perform
such tasks, smart energy meters are required to operate meter-
ing hourly or more frequently intervals [14]. Another common
functionality directly related to regular and precise metering
is to record the registered data and send alarms notifications
according to preset definitions. Besides real-time information,
smart energy meters can also record historical and cumulative
data over a certain period, such as energy consumption. Data
2
recording and alarm sending are important to perform energy
network status monitoring and useful for consumers to know
the details about their energy usage [1].
Two-way communication enables smart energy meters to
transmit not only measured data, but also specific commands
and instructions for remote appliances control. With this fea-
ture consumers can remotely manage their appliances, turning
them on/off as needed. Also, suppliers can perform network
changes or even remotely disconnect consumers energy [1].
Smart energy meters should contain a communication module,
which is responsible for transmitting measured data and receiv-
ing instructions to perform specific actions. In order to improve
smart energy meters reliability, the communication module
usually operates independently of other smart meter functions,
such as metering, data recording, and alarm sending. In this
way, losing connection to the network will not affect other
meter’s functions and communication may continue after the
equipment gets re-connected [15], [16]. Two-way communi-
cation functionality for smart energy meters can be performed
via wired or wireless communications. Wired connections usu-
ally provide a larger transmission capacity, while maintaining
both reliability and security. However, wired networks usually
require larger infrastructure investments when compared to
wireless technologies. Fiber options and power line communi-
cation (PLC) are the most common wired technologies used on
IENs [17]. For wireless communication, different technologies
are available for smart meters, each one with specific charac-
teristics regarding bandwidth, transmission distance, stability,
and cost. Most common wireless technologies used to create
IENs are ZigBee, Bluetooth Low Energy, Wi-Fi, and Wireless
M-bus [12], [16].
Heterogeneous network are frequently proposed when cre-
ating IENs communication networks. Wired communication
can be used to connect backbones where information of many
smart sensors is transmitted, due to its larger transmission
capacity. In turn, wireless communication is more efficient
and cheaper when connecting smart sensors in smaller areas,
providing flexible and bi-directional communication [17].
In addition, a new concept has recently gained much
popularity, the Internet of Energy, referring to the specific
type of IENs where the Internet is used as a communication
tool. Internet continuous development will enable future IENs
with greater communication capacity, which invites for more
advanced features and applications for smart energy meters.
Given the strengths and weaknesses of every technology, it is
important to combine different communication technologies in
order to meet technical requirements and also maintain invest-
ment cost, system reliability, and system security at optimal
levels [16]. An appropriate IoT-based networking model can be
designed and implemented with such combinations, improving
IENs efficiency to reach better results both for consumers and
suppliers [18].
The arrival of smart devices has promoted the concept of
connecting everyday objects via data networks. The extreme
increase of connected devices has outreached the conventional
network elements capacity, resulting in a new network ar-
chitecture creation, based on IoT concept. IoT networks can
manage heterogeneous devices and objects, each one uniquely
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addressable and capable of identifying and sharing informa-

tion, with or without human interaction. IoT network concept
is matured and receives extensive attention, leading towards
the innovation of novel applications, i.e. smart building, smart
home, smart transportation, smart healthcare, smart industry,
etc. Therefore, making IoT as a standard for connecting smart
sensors, it can help the creation of an universal communication
platform for smart environments [19].

III. P ROPOSAL OF AN I OT E NABLED S MART E NERGY

M ETER
Before smart meters, conventional electromechanical meters
were the main type of devices for measuring electricity flows
and consumption. Measured data was locally displayed on
analogue counters and must be manually recorded. Two-way
communication capability is the most important feature that
distinguishes conventional meters from smart meters [1]. The
authors developed a Smart Energy Meter that incorporates
several communication interfaces, wired and wireless, to pro-
vide two-way information flow. The developed equipment also
support several communication protocols for easy integration
with any remote monitoring software solution. The following
subsections will present the complete proposed solution for
energy monitoring in a Smart Environment.
The proposed solution in this paper is based on a smart
energy meter with improved characteristics including re-
mote management, programming, and control; interoperability
among several power meters, sensors and management sys-
tems; embedded data storing, processing, and decision making
algorithms; and power quality analysis.
With a powerful main processor (ARM Cortex R
- M4
Architecture) and state-of-art energy meter integrated circuit
(IC), the smart energy meter developed can perform a real- Figure 1. Block diagram of the proposed IoT Enabled Smart Energy Meter.
time analysis of various electric parameters, detect faults, and
even control different appliances used in smart environments.
Conceived on an open platform and using open protocols, this 3.3Vdc buck regulator. Any phase applied to the meter supplies
smart meter aggregates several functionalities, as the ability voltage to its internal regulator. An optional external 12Vdc
to communicates with others and with Smart Energy Control input is also provided to be used as a battery backup power
Systems. The Wireless IoT connection is provided by a multi- supply. For calibration, internal firmware provides parameters
standard 2.4GHz micro-controller unit (MCU), allowing its for adjusting voltage and current values and phase correction.
connection to almost any Smart Environment (using Bluetooth With accuracy <0.5% over 2000:1 with dynamic range for
Low Energy, Zigbee, RF4CE, or 6LoWPAN). Figure 1 shows phase current, the Smart Energy Meter exceeds ANSI C12.20
a complete equipment block diagram. and IEC 63053 Standard requirements. Figure 2 shows the
Energy meter functionality is performed by sensing volt- created IoT Enabled Smart Energy Meter final board.
age and current from three phases. Alternated voltage is Energy Meter IC provides the following parameters from
directly applied to voltage inputs and alternated current each phase for real-time analysis and historical data: RMS
is sensed using current transformers (CT). Both current Voltage, RMS Current, Active Power, Reactive Power, Ap-
and voltage front-end inputs are protected from spikes us- parent Power, Power Factor, Frequency, and Voltage-Current
ing transient-voltage-suppression (TVS) diodes and varistors. Phase. For a consumption analysis, the following parameters
A 10-bit successive-approximation-register (SAR) analog-to- are provided: Active Import Energy, Active Export Energy,
digital converter (ADC) measures the reduced phase voltage. Reactive Quadrant I Energy, Reactive Quadrant II Energy,
Phase currents are sensed using CTs and converted using 24- Reactive Quadrant III Energy, Reactive Quadrant IV Energy,
bits second-order sigma-delta ADCs, with differential inputs. Apparent Import Energy, Apparent Export Energy, Sag Events
Since the magnitude of current waveform varies more than (Reduced RMS Voltage), Sag Total Duration, Swell Events
the magnitude of the voltage waveform, the higher accuracy (Increased RMS Voltage), and Swell Total Duration.
ADCs should always be used to sense current. The main processor collects power IC data and provides its
The Smart Energy Meter is powered-up by an internal RC information using multi-protocol interfaces. With an internal
power supply, which generates reduced continuous voltage to a HTTP server, all measured data can be accessed using any
 4

Figure 2. Photo of the created IoT Enabled Smart Energy Meter.

Web browser. MODBUS TCP, MODBUS RTU (RS485), and

SNMP V2C protocols are supported in order to integrate Smart
Energy Meter to almost any SCADA and network management
system. RESTful APIs can also be used for any software
integration.
The multi-standard Wireless 2.4GHz MCU supports
Bluetooth R
Low Energy (BLE) 4.2 Specification and the Figure 3. Illustration of the proposed Energy Management System Architec-
ture.
IEEE 802.15.4 PHY and MAC. The Constrained Application
Protocol (CoAP) and Message Queuing Telemetry Transport
(MQTT) IoT protocols can run over Bluetooth R
, ZigBee R
, is developed in C# programming language and uses RESTful
R
APIs to optimized client-server communication. It supports
and 6LoWPAN or ZigBee RF4CE, allowing equipment
connection to wireless sensor networks (WSNs). a multi-protocol network management system, called Horus
The hardware used by the authors is based on state-of- NMS R
, a solution developed by a Brazilian company, named
art technologies, providing reliable data and multi-standards TSDA Comunicações, that can be used for monitoring smart
connection, and it is cheaper than conventional smart energy sensors. Figure 4 shows a dashboard created for a single phase
meters with equivalent functionalities. It is important to notice Smart Energy Meter monitoring, analyzing parameters in real-
that there is no commercial available solution that provide all time, using Horus NMS R
.
the supported connectivity options and protocols in a single
equipment.

IV. P ROPOSALS OF AN E NERGY M ANAGEMENT S YSTEM

As important as the use of smart sensors is the choice of a
suitable software to collect sensors data and make it available
in real-time, in a ubiquitous and safe way [2]. The large
amount of sensors and available data requires a scalable and
expandable platform. These available data are requested by
distinct users in different physical locations. A client-server
software architecture is the best solution for these purposes.
R
Figure 3 shows an Energy Management System collecting sen-
sors data and turning them available to a Network Operation
Center (NOC) and remote users, using a client-server based
software architecture.
Smart environments usually require smart sensor from dis-
tinct providers, with different communication protocols, since
there is no single standards for IoT sensors. Based on this,
an energy management system must be able to communicate
with most common smart sensors protocols, such as SNMP,
MODBUS, CoAP, and MQTT [3]. A specific remote monitor-
ing software platform is also proposed in this paper to collect
data from smart meters, generate reports with all managed
data, and send alarm notifications to system users. The solution
Figure 4. Smart Energy Meter Dashboard.
Besides real-time monitoring, Horus NMS
provides sev-
eral distinct reports, where monitored parameters can be
related. Figure 5 shows a report generated by Horus Report
Manager Module with voltage and consumption informations.
Information is a valuable resource generated by smart sensors,
therefore an Energy Management System must handle it
carefully and provide easy access to these user’s data. As may
be seen, the system performs very well and offer a promising
IoT-based energy manitoring solution.
V. M AIN A DVANTAGES AND P OTENTIAL I SSUES OF THE
P ROPOSED C ONCEPT
In an environment where more and more people are depen-
dent on the good functioning of machines, the idea that failures

Figure 5. Example of an Energy Management System Report.
can and should be avoided highlight the need for continuous
monitoring. In addition, a remote operating diagnostics system
allows the user to check the status of the equipment or an
environment of interest, and can be accessed at any time
or anywhere in the world and reduce waste. Infrastructure
monitoring system has many benefits for process control, rapid
problem identification and maintenance agility. In any com-
pany the cost reduction and the efficiency and the productivity
are criteria in which excellence is sought. A monitoring system
reaches the excellence of its operation when it presents the
measurements in real time, according to what happens with
the process equipment or environments.
Variable monitoring provides sufficient data to perform
trend analysis, diagnostic and decision making, indicating the
actual operating conditions of the monitored services to detect
any change in the state of the data. However, the measurements
and records of the variables are useless if they are not analyzed
and interpreted, since it is the weighted evaluation of these
data that allows a diagnosis and, consequently, the making of
a plan of action.
Problems and disturbances regarding the quality of electric
power are directly related to the performance, wear and
reduction of equipment’s life. The occurrence of oscillations
and failures in the electric power supply by the concessionaire
can generate frustrations or losses of equipment. There are
also processes or devices that suffer great damage if their
5
operation is interrupted abruptly and for this, many have
batteries or no-breaks to avoid variations and lack of energy.
Remote monitoring at the entrance of a building grid will
enable a complete report of the energy supplied by the local
utility. Thus, in addition to obtaining contracted energy quality
data will be possible to make preventive decisions in case
of oscillations in the electric network, such as switching the
power supply to the generator group.
The information and controls will be in a central location
and the sensors will be connected to it through Internet
of Things technology, allowing the services of interest to
perform their functions continuously, analyzing the possible
interventions needed. In this way, damages can be avoided in
an unscheduled way increasing equipment’s lifetime and, also,
being able to generate proposals to implement improvements,
always seeking a better use and efficiency of all the environ-
ment.
Through the proposed intelligent energy meter, it will
be possible monitoring and controlling other services and
equipments besides monitoring two way energy flow. Climate
control appliances and lighting circuits can be programmed
and operated whenever necessary, avoiding unnecessary con-
sumption and minimizing energy waste. Usually, the activation
of the air conditioners and lamps of an environment are carried
out manually, allowing equipment to remain turned on even
with the absence of people in the rooms, generating great

waste and high energy bills for the consumer. By means of the
monitoring center it will be possible to program the period of
operation of these services according to established schedules
or to activate and deactivate them using simple commands,
through a supervisory system in the monitoring center, in case
an operator intervention is required.
VI. C ONCLUSION AND F UTURE W ORK
Smart energy metering has been rapidly implemented due
to global economic growth and the development of new
technologies. Its use provides interoperability and control
between smart devices in IENs. This paper presents important
contributions regarding energy monitoring system using IoT
networks. The work includes a new IoT enable smart energy
meter and a new energy management system capable to receive
data from smart sensors.
The experimental equipment prototype aims to improve
the energy efficiency and promote energy conscious use in
smart environments. The usage of IoT technology promotes
inter-connection and interoperability, building and creating an
intelligent infrastructure, which is an important part of the
future smart world. The authors envision that this idea will
provide significant economic benefits, both to consumers and
suppliers, and lead to a greener energy usage.
As future work, real experiments and practical results of
proposed smart energy meter will be performed, installing
prototypes on real smart environments to demonstrate and
validate its benefits.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported by the National Funding from
the FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia through
the UID/EEA/50008/2013 Project; by Finep, with resources
from Funttel, Grant No. 01.14.0231.00, under the Centro
de Referência em Radiocomunicações - CRR project of the
Instituto Nacional de Telecomunicações (Inatel), Brazil; by
Finatel through the Inatel Smart Campus project; by Brazilian
National Council for Research and Development (CNPq) via
Grant No. 309335/2017-5; and by TSDA Comunicações by its
technical support.
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