Smart Metering System for Per-User Consumption Allocation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for isolating and billing per-user commodity consumption in shared facilities, such as multi-tenant housing, require additional hardware and infrastructure, making them costly and impractical for facilities without a granular mapping between consumption devices and divisions.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a smart metering system that can determine commodity consumption on a per-user basis without the need for submetering hardware or infrastructure changes, by using smart and non-smart consumption devices and non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM) to track and allocate consumption data to individual users.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional submetering systems are used to isolate per-user consumption, then billing accuracy is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the submetering function through software algorithms that analyze aggregate consumption data to infer individual user usage patterns. Instead of physical submeters for each user, the system uses computational models to replicate the measurement function, thereby maintaining billing accuracy while eliminating complex hardware infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/electrical submetering hardware system with an information-processing system. Smart meters aggregate consumption data, and algorithms process this data to allocate usage to individual users. This substitution of physical measurement devices with computational methods reduces device complexity while maintaining measurement precision.
2Measurement precision
If submetering infrastructure is installed to track individual consumption, then billing fairness is improved, but ease of manufacture and installation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the existing smart meter infrastructure multi-functional by enabling it to perform both aggregate billing and individual user consumption tracking simultaneously. The same smart meter that measures total consumption for facility billing is also used to collect data for individual user allocation, eliminating the need for separate submetering infrastructure and simplifying installation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a virtual representation of individual consumption patterns through algorithmic processing of aggregate data. This computational copy allows the system to achieve individual-level tracking accuracy without the physical infrastructure complexity of traditional submetering, making deployment much easier.
3Ease of operation
If real-time consumption monitoring is implemented without submeters, then ease of operation is improved, but measurement precision may worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by collecting and storing detailed consumption data at the smart meter level in real-time. The system pre-processes this data with algorithms that can quickly allocate usage to individual users when needed. This preliminary data collection and computational preparation enables both real-time monitoring ease and precise measurement when billing or reporting is required.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where consumption data is continuously monitored, analyzed, and used to adjust allocation calculations in real-time. This feedback loop ensures that even without physical submeters, the measurement precision is maintained through continuous validation and adjustment of consumption attribution based on usage patterns, device identifiers, and temporal correlations.
Data Source
AI summary
Various embodiments disclosed herein provide techniques for enabling metering devices to determine the consumption of a commodity on a per-user basis. In various embodiments, a method includes determining, by a metering device, a consumption of a commodity by a consumption device of a plurality of consumption devices; determining, by the metering device based on one or more user-to-consumption device usage mappings between a plurality of users and the plurality of consumption devices, one or more users of the plurality of users associated with the consumption of the commodity; and assigning, by the metering device, the consumption of the commodity by the consumption device to one or more accounts associated with the one or more users.