09-10-2012, 05:38 PM
PREPAID ENERGY METER WITH MOBILE BASED RECHARGING
PREPAID ENERGY METER.doc (Size: 1.93 MB / Downloads: 118)
ABSTRACT
The concept of pre-paid is one of the immerging fields for the paid service providers. The concept becomes so popular because it has so many advantages. The services like electricity, gas, water telephone etc are now days get privatized. The service provider company some time incurs heavy losses due to non-collection of bills. These service items cannot be recovered from the user after providing so the concept of pre-paid reduce risk and increase profitability. Also the bill collection infrastructure is not necessary which intern increase improve the efficiency of the service providing companies. The concept of pre-paid starts in the manual form by recieving advance deposits but now due to the revolution of IT and electronics industry the manual recharging process is replaced with automatic and electronic recharging. The recharging methods can be with wire based like telephone line and also by using wireless technology like radio and bluetooth communication. The prepaid system is designed with a smart technology using microcontroller and the recharging process is by some method of communication. The Mobile based recharging is specifically very flexible recharging system. The recharging can be done from any place at any time with out accessing the system physically. This concept of remote charging makes the system more flexible.
INTRODUCTION:
An electricity meter or energy meter is a device that measures the amount of electric energy consumed by a residence, business, or an electrically powered device. Electricity meters are typically calibrated in billing units, the most common one being the kilowatt hour. Periodic readings of electric meters establishes billing cycles and energy used during a cycle. In settings when energy savings during certain periods are desired, meters may measure demand, the maximum use of power in some interval. In some areas, the electric rates are higher during certain times of day, to encourage reduction in use. Also, in some areas meters have relays to turn off nonessential equipment.
Energy meters, the only direct revenue interface between utilities and the consumers, have undergone several advancements in the last decade. The conventional electro-mechanical meters are being replaced with electronic meters to improve accuracy in meter reading. Asian countries are currently looking to introduce prepaid electricity meters across their distribution network, buoyed up by the success of this novel methodology in South Africa. The existing inherent problems with the post-paid system and privatization of state held power distribution companies are the major driving factors for this market in Asia.
Mobile phone based recharging
In this project the Prepaid Energy meter can be charged from a remote by using a mobile. Once the user feel to recharge The prepaid energy meter he can transfer the amount to the service provider bank account and the service provider will make a call to the system and log in to that and charge it by entering digits from its key pad. The recharging can be done from any mobile set but the system access code must be put in to log into the energy meter. This type of systems are now-a-days getting popular and many popular and well known companies make products and sale in the market.
The energy meter sends a pulse to the microcontroller indicating a unit is consumed. The controller calculate the number of pulse and display the balance units left in the system. When the system do not have any balance it trips the main relay to disconnect the supply from load. When the user transfer money to the service provider’s account then the service provider rings up to the mobile connected to the system and sends a code through the DTMF coding system, the controller programmed in the system reads that and recharge the system to start again. The system is installed with a embedded operating system to provide a user friendly environment with the help of alphanumeric LCD.