Appliance Submeter Validation Against Main Meter Readings
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current energy management systems lack the ability to provide revenue-grade metering for individual domestic or commercial appliances without requiring the sealing of electrical wiring, making it costly and inefficient to install and operate revenue-grade meters for each appliance, and fail to accurately verify and remunerate energy control actions.
Innovation Solution
An energy management system comprising a submetering and communication module with a submetering unit, processing units, and a main metering unit that correlates and validates power consumption parameters, allowing for accurate measurement and control of individual appliance energy usage without sealing the electrical wiring, and provides revenue-grade metering data compatible with utility meters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If revenue-grade meters are installed for each individual appliance, then measurement precision and billing accuracy are improved, but device complexity and installation costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the metering function by separating submetering units (installed at individual appliance locations) from the main revenue-grade meter. Each submetering unit measures energy consumption locally, while the main meter provides authoritative measurement for billing. This segmentation allows accurate appliance-level measurement without requiring complex revenue-grade meters at every location.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary validation mechanism where the main revenue-grade meter acts as a reference standard. The control unit compares submeter measurements against the main meter's measurements and validates them accordingly. This intermediary validation ensures billing accuracy without requiring the main appliance meter itself to be a complex revenue-grade device.
2Reliability
If electrical wiring is sealed behind the utility meter, then tampering prevention is improved, but ease of installation and operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts the measurement function from the sealed utility meter area and places submetering units at appliance locations where wiring is already accessible. This eliminates the need to access and seal wiring behind the utility meter for installation purposes, while the main meter continues to provide tamper-proof measurement for billing purposes.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a functional copy of the metering capability at the appliance level through submetering units. These submeters replicate the measurement function locally, eliminating the need to physically access or modify the sealed utility meter wiring for appliance installation, while maintaining measurement integrity through validation against the main meter.
3Ease of operation
If submetering units are installed without sealing, then ease of installation is improved, but reliability against tampering deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback validation where the control unit continuously compares measurements from submetering units against measurements from the main revenue-grade meter. This feedback mechanism detects discrepancies that would indicate tampering, providing reliability assurance even though the submetering units themselves are not sealed. The validation process ensures that any attempt to manipulate submeter readings will be detected through mismatch with the authoritative main meter measurements.
Data Source
AI summary
Energy management system having at least one submetering and communication module, the module including: a submetering unit configured for metering appliance related power consumption parameters related to an electr(on)ic appliance; and a first communication interface for communicating the appliance related power consumption parameters with a server; a first processing unit configured for processing the appliance related power consumption parameters and providing a sub-set of power consumption parameters; a main metering unit configured for metering main power consumption parameters related to a main electricity cable; a second communication interface for communicating the main power consumption parameters with the server, a second processing unit configured for processing the main power consumption parameters and providing a main set of power consumption parameters; characterized in that it further includes a third processing unit configured for correlating the sub-set with the main set and validating the presence of the sub-set in the main set.