DEPARTMENT OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY ENGINEERING

Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, Pune

IOT BASED SMART ENERGY MONITORING SYSTEM

Guide - Dr. Vijay Gaikwad

Abstract:
Energy Monitoring Systems are one of the most important technologies used to identify
and monitor the flow of energy within systems as well as detect errors if any. Monitoring
the energy of the devices used for different applications allows us to keep track of the
functioning of the devices up-to-date as well which in return can help us in identifying
failure of the parts in the future.

Introduction:
The chosen CP topic “Smart Energy Monitoring System” is a level 2 IoT system. The
data is stored in the cloud by using the ESP8266 microcontroller and Thingspeak. This
allows the users to view the data in real time and make their decisions for energy saving
accordingly. The proposed system of energy monitoring has its own ups and downs,
which can be worked upon with further experience.

Block Diagram:

Advantages of Smart Energy Monitoring System:

● Real time energy monitoring from anywhere in the world. Since it is

connected to the internet and as long as we have access to the internet, we can
read the data in real time anywhere.
● Real-time energy consumption data feedback to the power plant to
efficiently generate power. In real life power plants need to adjust the
production of power as per consumer’s demand in real-time. If electric power
companies produce less power than the demand, blackouts will occur and if they
 produce more power than the demand, voltage on the grid will rise to dangerous
levels and protection systems will kick-in and blackout will occur. With real time
data the power companies can manage the power generation efficiently
with zero to minimal blackouts.
● No need for manual labor for collecting monthly power consumption data on
individual houses or industries and power generation companies can bill the
customers directly.
● Individual consumers can keep track of their energy consumption and may be
able to cut down power consumption to save on the bills.

Disadvantages of Smart Energy Monitoring System:

● Privacy and data concerns. New technologies are helpful for society but they
also bring new opportunities for tech frauds, scammers and hackers. The data
they harvest illegally can be used against you for their financial gain.
● Maintaining the software and hardware will cost the companies, especially as the
electronic components may increase in price over the period of time.
● Initial replacement cost of replacing old energy meters with new ones will be
incurred by the consumers and also power companies, making them a hard
choice for investment.

Components Used:
- Breadboard
- Jumper cables
- INA-219 sensor
- Load
- LCD display
- I2C LCD Adapter module
- NodeMCU ESP8266
- External Power Supply (depending on conditions)

Brief description of the INA-219 sensor:

INA219 is a module that can measure voltage and current. The technical specifications
of this module are:
- Input supply (Vcc) 3.0V to 5.5V.
- Vin+ and Vin- are measuring terminals.
- Voltage measurement up to 26V.
- Current measurement up to 3.2A in both directions.
- Shunt resistor: 0.1 ohm.
- Supported communication protocol: I2C.

IoT Design Methodology:

Following the Generic methodology for IoT systems the steps implemented while
building up the project are as mentioned below:

STEP 1:
Purpose and Requirements Specifications:
The main objective of this project is to create an energy monitoring system as an
application of a smart energy grid. This will help in maintaining the basic requirements
of energy saving which is basically keeping an eye out on the usage of energy and
alerting the user if the energy usage exceeds a certain predefined point.
The suggested model will help in monitoring the energy levels, which would be
particularly useful in home automation as it uses large amounts of energy in exchange
for lack of physical work. This in turn will also help to identify the faulty devices as well,
thus saving the user’s money in the process.
The requirements for the model includes sensors like INA219 current and voltage
sensor, a LCD and an I2C adapter to display some of the outputs digitally, as well as
using the nodeMCU to facilitate connection to the internet to monitor the IoT system.

STEP 2:
Process Model Specification:
The proposed model has numerous use cases, the most important one being its
necessity in a smart grid system. Smart grid systems is basically an electricity supply
network that uses digital communications technology to detect and react to local
changes in usage. In such a system monitoring of the components is a major process,
which can be done efficiently using this model. With real time data the power companies
can manage the power generation efficiently with zero to minimal blackouts. Individual
consumers can keep track of their energy consumption and may be able to cut down
power consumption to save on the bills.
Other than the above mentioned use cases, the model can also help in identifying any
errors or faults within the system as well, since the graphs and analog modules will help
to keep a track of the components of the system.

STEP 3:
Domain Model Specification:
The physical entities to be used in the energy monitoring system include the INA219
current and voltage sensor which is used to monitor the voltage and current drops as
well for power monitoring, a LCD with I2C support which is used in applications that
require a visual or textual display, the NodeMCU ESP8266 which is used for prototyping
of IoT devices as well as for maintaining the connection to the Internet and a battery as
an external power source which can be exchanged with anything that will provide 0 to
26 VDC and a maximum of 3A supply.
The INA219 based Current sensor module is an I2C interface based zero drift and
bi-directional current/power monitoring module.
Datasheet for the INA219 sensor:
https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/ina219.pdf?ts=1665381498754&ref_url=https%253A%
252F%252Fwww.google.com%252F
The NodeMCU ESP8266 has been designed for mobile, wearable electronics and
Internet of Things applications with the aim of achieving the lowest power consumption
with a combination of several proprietary techniques.
Datasheet for the ESP8266:
https://components101.com/sites/default/files/component_datasheet/ESP8266-NodeMC
U-Datasheet.pdf
The virtual entity and services include the use of the cloud platform of Thingspeak to
monitor the power consumption of the devices with the help of graphs and analog
readings.

The physical as well as virtual entities have their own counterparts or replacement
components. However, the components chosen have been done so giving proper
consideration to the ups and downs of all the components and their counterparts put
together.

STEP 4:
Service Specifications:
The service being used in the proposed model is the Thingspeak website. ThingSpeak
is an IoT analytics platform service that allows you to aggregate, visualize, and analyze
live data streams in the cloud. You can send data to ThingSpeak from your devices,
create instant visualization of live data, and send alerts to the user. This is mainly
important as it allows the user to monitor the devices from anywhere in the world, and
also removes the need to actually put in physical effort to monitor every device after
setting up the system.

STEP 5:
IoT Level Specification:
The proposed model is a level 2 IoT system. Level-2 IoT systems are suitable for
solutions where the data involved is big, however, the primary analysis requirement is
not computationally intensive and can be done locally itself. Here the data that is being
collected is being displayed on the LCD in the form of numbers i.e the current and
voltage levels, whereas the actual monitoring occurs when the data is displayed in the
form of meters and graphs on the Thingspeak website.

STEP 6:
Functional View Specification:
The function of the model is not limited to the monitoring of every-day use devices, and
can be used in keeping a track of specialized devices as well. This means that the
proposed model is multipurpose and does not have any specific limitations on its
use-cases.
Thus, this allows the model to become perfect for mass deployment on multiple systems
as well.

STEP 7:
Operational View Specification:
The system is a fairly simple model with the collected data being stored in the cloud.
This makes the stored data secure with only the user having access to all of the
information.
Since we will be relying on graphs and analog meters to monitor the usage of specific
devices, the best software to use is Thingspeak which allows us to do all of the above
easily. The users simply need to create their own account on the Thingspeak website
and connect the devices which would allow them to monitor them with ease.

STEP 8:
Device and Component Integration:
This step includes the integration of the devices and the components together, which is
usually represented digitally in the form of a circuit diagram.
This step usually involves ideation of how the circuit will look like, how the components
will be connected together and the steps involved along the way.
STEP 9:
Application Development:
As discussed earlier the proposed model is but an application to a much bigger notion
of a smart grid system. The created model will serve as a monitoring system allowing
the user to easily remove damaged or faulty components and at the same time create a
detailed plan with respect to the amount of power being used in a month and its relative
cost. It basically acts like the first part of an energy grid, which is detecting the changes
in power/ current and voltage. Adding further components can also help the system to
then react and pro-act to changes in usage and multiple issues, thus becoming a full
fledged energy grid system.

Results and Discussion:

As demonstrated the proposed model will greatly help out to manage various devices
used both in homes and for larger applications. Having a monitoring system will also
allow the users to keep a record of all the devices in their position and their working
status. The system will also prove useful for larger applications as well, as the
integration of the model onto larger systems is a fairly straightforward process.
Functionalities, although limited for the time being, can be improved upon as part of the
future scope, which would allow the addition of some important features as well.