Enerduino-pro: Smart meter led probe using Arduino

Abstract

Non-intrusive load monitoring of domestic appliances has received steady interest in the last twenty years, first because of interest from energy companies interested in usage statistics for power balancing and, more recently, in order to assist users in tuning their habits for reduced power consumption. This has increased the need for accurate and economic methods of power measurement that can be efficiently implemented on cheap and easy-to-install platforms. To this end, we present a cheap and efficient device based on Arduino to monitor the usage of domestic appliances in real-time: Enerduino-pro. The design uses low-cost easy-to-assemble open-source electronic components and consists of four main parts: an Arduino UNO microcontroller, one photoresistor to measure instantaneous power absorption plus one optional additional one to measure reactive power, a WiFi shield, and an LED (for debugging purposes only). We describe the device, complete with open software and hardware specifications, and different use cases with proof-of-concept solutions.