American Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications

2018; 6(1): 46-55

http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/ajesa
doi: 10.11648/j.ajesa.20180601.17
ISSN: 2376-6069 (Print); ISSN: 2376-6085 (Online)

Design and Implementation of a GSM-Based Single Phase

Prepayment Energy Meter with Hybrid Recharge Mode
Henry Erialuode Amhenrior1, Fredrick Edeko2
1
Ugbow Business Unit, Benin Electricity Distribution Company/Global Utilities Mgt Coy, Benin City, Nigeria
2
Department of Electrical/Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria

Email address:

To cite this article:

Henry Erialuode Amhenrior, Fredrick Edeko. Design and Implementation of a GSM-Based Single Phase Prepayment Energy Meter with
Hybrid Recharge Mode. American Journal of Embedded Systems and Applicationsy. Vol. 6, No. 1, 2018, pp. 46-55.
doi: 10.11648/j.ajesa.20180601.17

Received: June 20, 2018; Accepted: July 9, 2018; Published: August 6, 2018

Abstract: This paper presents a GSM-based Prepayment Electric Energy Meter implemented with hybrid recharging mode:
Mobile Station (MS), Supply Authority Platform and the Keypad. The system was designed around two modules; the hardware
and software. The hardware module consists of ADE7755 used to generate the consumption pulses that are measured and
recorded by Atmega328P. Atmega2560 was used to manage the unit consumption; control and monitor the activities of the
meter. SIM900 was used to achieve the SMS recharging and communication capability. The server consists of Atmega328P
and SIM900 for communication. It is interfaced serially with the PC used for the Application Platform. The software module
consists of the Application Platform especially for token generation and Database. The SMS Command format for recharging
of the meter was also developed. The developed meter has a mean time of 133.46s, 233.3s and 311.1s to consume 0.01KWh on
a load of 320W, 200W and 160W respectively with the highest standard deviation of 1.14 at a load of 160W. The results also
show a mean time of 28.99sec in the SMS round-trip delay test for SMS recharging and 100% success rate in wireless and
keypad recharging. The GSM-based Energy Metering System developed worked satisfactorily. It is reliable and efficient for
use by the supply authority and the consumers.

Keywords: GSM-Based Energy Meter, Hybrid Recharging, SMS Command and Application Platform

There are different ways of recharging the Prepayment

1. Introduction
Over the years, the measurement of electricity has evolved
through the use of various energy meters ranging from meter
operated on liquid movement which is analogous to sand
watch through various electromechanical energy meters and
then the Prepaid Meters [1-3]. The Prepayment meter is
electronic in nature and therefore has some level of
intelligence. A Prepayment Energy Meter enables the utility
company to collect electricity bill from consumer prior to
energy consumption. The Prepayment meter is not limited to
Automated Meter Reading (AMR), but it is also attributed
with prepaid recharging ability and information exchange
with the utility company pertaining to customer’s
consumption details [4]. In Nigeria, as at the time of this
research, recharge tokens were only loaded or key-in into the
meters through physical contact by the use of keypad.
Meter namely, the use of smart card; the use of infrared and
the use of token through keypads [5-6]. The most prevalent
type of recharge system especially in the Benin Electricity
Distribution Company of the unbundled Power Holding
Company of Nigeria (PHCN) is the token recharge system. In
this system, the consumer will purchase the recharge token
either from the vending station at the supply authority’s
offices, the banks or any other authorized sales outlet.
A number of researchers including Berhanu et al. and
Christopher have agreed that various forms of wireless
communication technologies can be used to achieve wireless
recharging and monitoring of energy meter [1, 7]. Some of
these technologies include Power Line Carrier (PLC)
communication, Supervisionary Control And Data
Acquisition (SCADA), Internet, Ethernet, Embedded RF
module, Wi Fi, Bluetooth and ZigBee. These methods are
 American Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications 2018; 6(1): 46-55
either expensive to implement and operate or require
complement set up of infrastructure or short operating distant
and still require field intervention of human operators or they
are prone to errors [8]. The GSM network is used to achieve
wireless recharging of energy meter in this research because,
there is an already existing GSM infrastructure with a wide
coverage in Nigeria and it supports Short Message Service
(SMS) platform that is used to load the token on the meter.
2. Research Survey on Recharging
Prepayment Energy Meter
The Electric Energy Prepayment meter is an important
component of the Utility Company as well as electricity
consumer’s equipment for energy consumption measurement.
Again, it is a new technology in electricity metering
therefore, it is subject to improvement in several areas. As a
result, several researches have over the years been carried out
on different aspects of the meter gear towards its
improvement. One of such researches carried out in this area
of prepayment meter was on measurement and billing
efficiency, which was modeled and simulated based on
artificial intelligence and cognitive approach using Matlab
[9]. Similarly, others focused on designing a suitable
interface circuit that makes the traditional meter functions
exactly the same as Automatic Meter. In this approach
ZigBee network was used to send meter reading to Electricity
Board [1].
Also, Tariq developed an economical prototype of
Wireless Automatic Meter Reading System (WAMRS) in the
Sultanate of Oman, in which wireless communication is
based on IEEE 802.15.4 ZigBee standard [3]. Chunjuan and
Junjie proposed the combination of Power Line
Communication (PLC) and General Packet Radio Service
(GPRS) to achieve meter reading transmission from the
various meters to the master station for effective real-time
overview of consumption by the utility company and the
user, thus promoting improvement in energy management
and budget planning [10]. This was to ensure backup of
transmission link in AMR system through redundancy
arrangement. Boyina et al. in their research interfaced a GSM
module addressed with AT Command to a PIC16F877A
microcontroller to take meter readings continuously and send
the readings to the Electricity Board by SMS [11]. This was
an aid to accurate meter reading in AMR which reduces the
labour and man hour required by personnel in manual meter
reading in a post-paid metering system. Rachitha et al., and
Diya with Alpha while working in their separate projects
proposed a wireless method to replace the manual means of
taking meter readings for billing purpose. They interfaced the
existing meter to a microcontroller which in turn is interfaced
to a GSM modem used for SMS communications with
mobile phones and electricity provider. This enables data to
be transmitted from the meter to the supply authority,
processed and then the generated bill sent through SMS to
the consumer. This is an improvement of the postpaid meter
47
reading to an AMR [12-13]. Similarly, Jubi and Mareena
used GSM technology to keep track of the real-time
consumption of power by sending messages to consumers
about the consumption of power and also alerting them at the
minimum level of units [14]. This was only an alert system as
it never attempted recharging the meter wirelessly.
Concerned with the low level of energy billed compared to
energy delivered and the low level of consumers’ response to
bill payment, Anthony et al. designed an energy meter that
uses Atmega32 and a GSM modem to communicate in SMS
with the consumer in sending low level credit alert, and
sending consumption information to the supply authority.
This was to ensure that the supply authority has maximum
response in bill payment from the consumers [15]. Though,
they stated that the device is a prepaid meter, they however
did not state the means of recharging this meter.
With the new trend in web technology, instead of using
SMS as a means of sending meter reading to server in the
Electricity Board in AMR, some researchers have proposed a
system were power consumptions measured by wattmeter are
constantly transmitted to clouds using Wi-Fi module where
the data can be view by all concerned [16-17]. This is an
Internet of Things (IoT) method of transmitting, storing and
accessing meter readings, therefore it is not a prepaid meter.
Mayur et al. proposed the interfacing of an electronic
circuitry called Eliot with a unique identification to an
electric meter, and a web application also designed where the
device can be recharged and the consumer can view the
information about their real time consumption as well
through a user account created, which the consumer can log
into using a password [18]. This is a web based energy
consumption monitoring system and not a prepaid meter.
However, Omijeh and Ighalo presented a robust and a
more efficient prepaid energy metering which used the
existing Global System for Mobile communication (GSM)
networks [19]. This proposed SMS recharge was through a
server and not directly to the meter and the validation of the
token was outside the meter.
3. Materials and Method
The implementation of this work was done in two stages.
These include the hardware and the software stages of
implementation in this order. These enabled the objectives of
this work to be realised.
3.1. Hardware Implementation
The hardware component of the design is as shown in
Figure 1. It consists of the energy meter section and the
supply authority section linked by GSM network coverage.
The power supply of the system is not represented here. The
power supply of the meter is transformerless. The power
supply of the server/supply authority circuit is sourced from
the computer used through the USB port of the system. This
provides the 5Vdc required for the operations of its
microcontroller and other circuitry in the system. The stages
of the hardware implementation are discussed in the
48 Henry Erialuode Amhenrior and Fredrick Edeko: Design and Implementation of a GSM-Based Single Phase
Prepayment Energy Meter with Hybrid Recharge Mode
following subsections.
Figure 1. System Hardware Block Diagram.
3.1.1. Interfacing Between the Microcontrollers
The two microcontrollers in this design are the
Atmega2560 and Atmega328P. Atmega328P is dedicated to
monitoring pulses generated from the ADE7755 for
measuring the energy consumption through the meter. These
pulses are received in the controller pin 4 (INT 0). This
controller keeps count of these pulses and updates the
Atmega2560 controller every second at its request.
Atmega2560 pin 6 (INT 4) is connected to pin 15 (PCINT1)
of Atmega328P and this is used to request for update from it.
Pin 14 (PCINT0) of Atmega328P is connected to pin 63
(RXD3) of Atmega2560 and this is used to obtain the pulse
readings for records and other operations. Figure 2 shows the
interface connection between the microcontrollers.
3.1.2. The Energy Measurement IC (ADE7755)
Connections
The ADE7755 IC is one of the most important components
in this work as the energy measurement is carried out in this
chip. Figure 3 shows the connections.
The important inputs of ADE7755 used in this work are
the transducer inputs. PINs 5 and 6 are the analog current
input Pins of the IC and they are fully differential inputs. The
signal from the current transducer are fed into the IC through
a current limiting resistor of 10k each with C6 and C8 as
filtering (decoupling) capacitors for the current signal
channel. Similarly, the voltage ratio is fed into the IC PIN 8
through a simple voltage divider network of R12 and R13
which measures the voltage across R13 based on voltage
divider rule with C9 as a filtering (decoupling) capacitor for
this voltage signal channel which is also fully differential.
The ADE7755 output frequency (CF) in PIN 22 is connected
to the optocoupler for noise isolation before connecting to the
interrupt 0 (PIN 4) of the microcontroller (Atmega328P).
3.1.3. DE7755 Design and Calibration
Hardware configuration Parameter:
Gain = 1, G1 = G0 = 0 and SCF = 0, S1= S0 = 1, f1-4 = 13.6
and Vref = 2.5V
Line Input Voltage = 220V (Nominal)
Counter (on F1, F2) = 100imp/kWh; Meter constant =
2048imp/kWh
Design Specification: Imax = 80A (with Ib = 5A) [20] Shunt
size used = 80Ω//10kΩ = 12.6mΩ
Therefore, Voltage across shunt (V1) at Ib = 5A x 12.6mΩ
= 63mV
Frequency
.
[20] (1)
Therefore, V2 = 27mV (rms)
During calibration, 0.1Unit = 0.1kWh drops in 2mins13sec
with a load of 320Watts with 132673 pulses.
Pulse/KWh = 1326730 (by extrapolation)
Therefore, Frequency = 132673/133 = 997.54Hz
For any frequency F, F/997.54 =0.001F [21]
Hence, Power (P) at frequency F = 320 x 0.001F = 0.32F
(watts).
 American Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications 2018; 6(1): 46-55 49

U1
100
AVCC
42 98
PL7 AREF D5
41
PL6
40 9
PL5/OC5C PE7/ICP3/CLKO/INT7
39 8
PL4/OC5B PE6/T3/INT6
38
PL3/OC5A PE5/OC3C/INT5
7 R14
37 6 220k From ADE7755
PL2/T5 PE4/OC3B/INT4
36 5
PL1/ICP5 PE3/OC3A/AIN1
35 4
PL0/ICP4 PE2/XCK0/AIN0
3
PE1/TXD0/PDO
82 2
PK7/ADC15/PCINT23 PE0/RXD0/PCINT8/PDI
83
PK6/ADC14/PCINT22
84 50
PK5/ADC13/PCINT21 PD7/T0 U7
85 49
PK4/ADC12/PCINT20 PD6/T1
86 48 2 14
PK3/ADC11/PCINT19 PD5/XCK1 PD0/RXD/PCINT16 PB0/ICP1/CLKO/PCINT0
Atmega2560

87 47 3 15
PK2/ADC10/PCINT18 PD4/ICP1 PD1/TXD/PCINT17 PB1/OC1A/PCINT1
88 46 4 16
PK1/ADC9/PCINT17 PD3/TXD1/INT3 PD2/INT0/PCINT18 PB2/SS/OC1B/PCINT2
89 45 5 17
PK0/ADC8/PCINT16 PD2/RXD1/INT2 PD3/INT1/OC2B/PCINT19 PB3/MOSI/OC2A/PCINT3
44 6 18
PD1/SDA/INT1 PD4/T0/XCK/PCINT20 PB4/MISO/PCINT4
79 43 11 19
PJ7 PD0/SCL/INT0 PD5/T1/OC0B/PCINT21 PB5/SCK/PCINT5
69 12 9
PJ6/PCINT15 PD6/AIN0/OC0A/PCINT22 PB6/TOSC1/XTAL1/PCINT6
68 60 13 10
PJ5/PCINT14 PC7/A15 PD7/AIN1/PCINT23 PB7/TOSC2/XTAL2/PCINT7

Atmega328P
67 59
PJ4/PCINT13 PC6/A14
66 58 AREF 21 23
65
PJ3/PCINT12 PC5/A13
57
+5V 20
AREF PC0/ADC0/PCINT8
24
PJ2/XCK3/PCINT11 PC4/A12 AVCC PC1/ADC1/PCINT9
64 56 25
PJ1/TXD3/PCINT10 PC3/A11 PC2/ADC2/PCINT10
63 55 26
PJ0/RXD3/PCINT9 PC2/A10 PC3/ADC3/PCINT11
54 27
PC1/A9 PC4/ADC4/SDA/PCINT12
27 53 28
PH7/T4 PC0/A8 PC5/ADC5/SCL/PCINT13
18 1
PH6/OC2B PC6/RESET/PCINT14
17
PH5/OC4C PB7/OC0A/OC1C/PCINT7
26 C32
16 25 100n ATMEGA328P A
PH4/OC4B PB6/OC1B/PCINT6
15 24
PH3/OC4A PB5/OC1A/PCINT5
14 23
PH2/XCK2 PB4/OC2A/PCINT4
13 22
PH1/TXD2 PB3/MISO/PCINT3
12 21
Figure 2. Interfacing between the Microcontrollers.

+5 volts supply
From main supply

Voltage Divider C13 C14

10uF 100nF
C15

To PIN 4 (INT0) of ATMEGA328P A

R12 1 24
10uF DVDD F1
10k
R13 C9 C16 2 23
AC/DC F2 U2
10k 1nF 100nF
3 22 TO INTERRUPT 1 6 +5VDC
AVDD CF
4 21 5
NC DGND 2
From Current transducer

5 20
R1110k V1P REVP
ADE7755

4
6 19
V1N NC C17 OPTOCOUPLER-NPN
C8 7 18 R18
V2N CLKOUT
100nF Voltage Tranducer input 8 17 100nF
10k
R5 10k V2P CLKIN
X2
C6 9 16 CRYSTAL
RESET G0
100nF 3.58MHz
10 15
REF IN/OUT G1
C10 11 14 C18 100nF
AGND S0
C11 C19
10uF 100nF 12 13 10uF C20
SCF S1
10nF
C12
10nF

Figure 3. ADE7755 connections.

The 192X64 Dots matrix LCD has its eight data lines
3.1.4. The Keypad and LCD Connections interfaced to the port A PINs 71 to 78 which are address data
The Keypad and the LCD are the meter user input input/output ports. The LCD is a three page display with
interface unit (UIU) and output display unit (ODU) three column select (CS1, CS2 and CS3), Reset (RS),
respectively apart from the interaction from the mobile Read/Write (R/W) and chip enable (EN) interfaced to
devices and the supply authority server. The interfacing of microcontroller PINs 35, 37, 15, 41, 40 and 39 respectively
these units to the microcontroller are shown in Figure 4. in that order.
The keypad rows are interfaced to the microcontroller port
K PINs 85, 86, 87 and 89 which are pin change interrupt 3.1.5. Other Microcontroller Interfaces
(PCINT) pins, the columns are interfaced to port D PINs 45, Among these interfaces are the SIM900, the Real Time
46 and port E PIN 7 which are interrupt pins 2, 3 and 5 Clock (RTC), the Buzzer, the SD Memory Card, the Tamper
respectively. Switch and the Output Power Control interface. Figure 5
50 Henry Erialuode Amhenrior and Fredrick Edeko: Design and Implementation of a GSM-Based Single Phase
Prepayment Energy Meter with Hybrid Recharge Mode

shows these interface connections. 3.2. Software Implementation for Recharging

The SIM900 is interfaced to the port H 0 (PIN 12) and 1
(PIN13) of the microcontroller which are the Received Data
(RXD2) and Transmit Data (TXD2) pins. The receive data of
the controller is connected to the transmit data of SIM900
while the transmit data of the controller is connected to the
receive data of SIM900. The DS1307 real time clock (RTC)
is connected to the controller through the I2C protocol. The
integration of the crystal resonator enhances the long-term
accuracy of the device. The Serial Clock (SCL) and serial
data (SDA) terminals of the RTC are interfaced into the port
D 0 (PIN 43) and 1 (PIN 44) of the controller which are the
controller’s SCL and SDA pins. The SD card communicates
with the microcontroller through an SPI interface. The SPI is
a synchronous serial data link made up of four wires: one for
the clock signal, one for the data in one direction, one for the
data in the opposite direction and one to select the chip. It is
interfaced to the controller port B 0 to 3 (PINs 19 to 22). The
buzzer is interfaced to the controller port F5 (PIN 92)
through a 555-timer, while the tamper switch is connected to
the controller port B5 (PIN 24) and pulled up to +5V through
a 10k resistor R1. Figure 6 shows picture of the developed
metering system.
The software implementation of this work is mainly in
three areas namely the recharge command development; the
microcontrollers programming that ensures meter correct
operations and the Application Platform development.
3.2.1. SMS Recharging
This involves the development of commands in C++
Language which can be used to send SMS in SMS capable
devices to recharge the meter. “*02#TOKEN” is the
command. This command is used to recharge token
remotely/wirelessly to the meter. The *02# command is
followed by the 20 digit recharge token. When the token is
recharged with this command, it uses the decryption
algorithm to check the validity of the token and then accepts
it and increment the unit value by an amount that is
decrypted and writes the new unit balance in Kilowatt hour to
a location in the EEPROM or rejects the token if it fails the
decryption test. After successful decryption and the token is
discovered to have been used previously by the meter, it will
reject the token and sends the message “this recharge card
has been used!” to the customer [22]. Figure 7 shows a
snapshot of the use of *02# command and the feedback from
the meter.

LCD1
192X64 DOTS

U1
30 97
RESET PF0/ADC0
96
PF1/ADC1
34 95
XTAL1 PF2/ADC2
33 94
XTAL2 PF3/ADC3
93
PF4/ADC4/TCK
Atmega2560

78 92
PA0/AD0 PF5/ADC5/TMS
77 91
PA1/AD1 PF6/ADC6/TDO
76 90
PA2/AD2 PF7/ADC7/TDI
75
PA3/AD3
74 51
-Vout

PA4/AD4 PG0/WR
GND
VCC
RST
DB7
DB6
DB5
DB4
DB3
DB2
DB1
DB0

CS2
CS1
R/W

73 52
CS3
RS
V0

PA5/AD5 PG1/RD
A

72 70 COL 1 COL 2 COL 3

PA6/AD6 PG2/ALE
71 28
PA7/AD7 PG3/TOSC2
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
20

+5VDC
19

29
1

3
PG4/TOSC1
19 1
PB0/SS/PCINT0 PG5/OC0B
20
R3 21
PB1/SCK/PCINT1
PB2/MOSI/PCINT2 PH0/RXD2
12
A 1 2 3
22 13
1k PB3/MISO/PCINT3 PH1/TXD2
23 14
PB4/OC2A/PCINT4 PH2/XCK2 CS3
24 15
R4 25
PB5/OC1A/PCINT5
PB6/OC1B/PCINT6
PH3/OC4A
PH4/OC4B
16
B 4 5 6
330k 26 17
PB7/OC0A/OC1C/PCINT7 PH5/OC4C
VCC (+5VDC)

18
PH6/OC2B
53 27
54
PC0/A8
PC1/A9
PH7/T4 C 7 8 9
55 63
PC2/A10 PJ0/RXD3/PCINT9
56 64
PC3/A11 PJ1/TXD3/PCINT10
57 65
58
PC4/A12
PC5/A13
PJ2/XCK3/PCINT11
PJ3/PCINT12
66
D 0 #
59 67 MENU
PC6/A14 PJ4/PCINT13 ENTER
D2 60 68 EXIT
PC7/A15 PJ5/PCINT14
STATUS 69
CS1
CS2
CS3

PJ6/PCINT15
RW
RS
EN

43 79
PD0/SCL/INT0 PJ7
44
PD1/SDA/INT1
COL 1 45 89 ROW 1
PD2/RXD1/INT2 PK0/ADC8/PCINT16
COL 2 46 88
PD3/TXD1/INT3 PK1/ADC9/PCINT17
47 87 ROW 2
PD4/ICP1 PK2/ADC10/PCINT18
48 86 ROW 3
PD5/XCK1 PK3/ADC11/PCINT19
49 85 ROW 4
PD6/T1 PK4/ADC12/PCINT20
50 84
PD7/T0 PK5/ADC13/PCINT21
83
PK6/ADC14/PCINT22
2 82
PE0/RXD0/PCINT8/PDI PK7/ADC15/PCINT23
3
PE1/TXD0/PDO CS1
4 35
PE2/XCK0/AIN0 PL0/ICP4
5 36
PE3/OC3A/AIN1 PL1/ICP5 CS2
6 37
PE4/OC3B/INT4 PL2/T5
COL 3 7 38
PE5/OC3C/INT5 PL3/OC5A EN
8 39
PE6/T3/INT6 PL4/OC5B RW
9 40
PE7/ICP3/CLKO/INT7 PL5/OC5C RS
41
PL6
98 42
AREF PL7
100
AVCC
ATMEGA2560

Figure 4. Keypad and LCD Connection.

 American Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications 2018; 6(1): 46-55 51

U1
30 97
RESET PF0/ADC0
96
Tamper Switch PF1/ADC1
+5VDC R1 34
XTAL1 PF2/ADC2
95
33 94 RL1
XTAL2 PF3/ADC3 Relay
10k 93
PF4/ADC4/TCK
78 92
PA0/AD0 PF5/ADC5/TMS
77 91

Atmega2560
PA1/AD1 PF6/ADC6/TDO
76
PA2/AD2 PF7/ADC7/TDI
90 Q1
75 BC547
PA3/AD3
74 51
PA4/AD4 PG0/WR
73 52
PA5/AD5 PG1/RD
72 70
PA6/AD6 PG2/ALE
+5VDC R8 71
PA7/AD7 PG3/TOSC2
28
PG4/TOSC1
29 R2 D1
22k 19 1 47k
PB0/SS/PCINT0 PG5/OC0B
20
PB1/SCK/PCINT1
21 12
PB2/MOSI/PCINT2 PH0/RXD2
22 13 DIODE
PB3/MISO/PCINT3 PH1/TXD2
23 14
PB4/OC2A/PCINT4 PH2/XCK2
24 15
PB5/OC1A/PCINT5 PH3/OC4A
25 16
PB6/OC1B/PCINT6 PH4/OC4B
26 17
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 PB7/OC0A/OC1C/PCINT7 PH5/OC4C U2
18 R6

8
9 PH6/OC2B
53 27 670k
PC0/A8 PH7/T4
54 4 3

VCC
PC1/A9 R Q
55 63
PC2/A10 PJ0/RXD3/PCINT9
56 64 7
PC3/A11 PJ1/TXD3/PCINT10 DC
57 65 BUZ1
SD Memory 58
PC4/A12 PJ2/XCK3/PCINT11
66 5
Card 59
PC5/A13 PJ3/PCINT12
67
CV
R7
PC6/A14 PJ4/PCINT13
60 68 670k
PC7/A15 PJ5/PCINT14
69
PJ6/PCINT15

GND
BUZZER
43 79 2 6
PD0/SCL/INT0 PJ7 TR TH
44
PD1/SDA/INT1
45 89 NE555
PD2/RXD1/INT2 PK0/ADC8/PCINT16

1
+5VDC 46
PD3/TXD1/INT3 PK1/ADC9/PCINT17
88 C4
47 87 10nF
PD4/ICP1 PK2/ADC10/PCINT18
R15 R16 R17 48
PD5/XCK1 PK3/ADC11/PCINT19
86 C3
10k 10k 10k 49 85 1uF
PD6/T1 PK4/ADC12/PCINT20
50 84
U4 PD7/T0 PK5/ADC13/PCINT21
83
PK6/ADC14/PCINT22
6 1 2 82
SCL X1 PE0/RXD0/PCINT8/PDI PK7/ADC15/PCINT23
5 3
SDA PE1/TXD0/PDO
4 35
PE2/XCK0/AIN0 PL0/ICP4
X3 5
PE3/OC3A/AIN1 PL1/ICP5
36
7 CRYSTAL 6 37
SOUT PE4/OC3B/INT4 PL2/T5
32.768KHz 7 38
PE5/OC3C/INT5 PL3/OC5A
3
VBAT X2
2 8
PE6/T3/INT6 PL4/OC5B
39 To Transmit Terminal of SIM900
9 40
PE7/ICP3/CLKO/INT7 PL5/OC5C
B2 DS1307 PL6
41
12V 98
AREF PL7
42 To Receive Terminal of SIM900
100
AVCC
ATMEGA2560

Figure 5. Microcontroller Interfaces.

Figure 6. As-Built Photo.

52 Henry Erialuode Amhenrior and Fredrick Edeko: Design and Implementation of a GSM-Based Single Phase
Prepayment Energy Meter with Hybrid Recharge Mode

Figure 7. *02# Command Snapshot for recharge token.

3.2.2. Keypad Operations
The keypad is the manual option of interacting with this
energy meter and it is a menu based system which consists of
five (5) main menus with each number (numbers 1 to 5 in the
keypad) corresponding to the associated operations as shown
in table 1.
Table 1. Keypad Menu.
Menu No Function
1 Recharge Meter
2 View usage history
3 Set Date and Time
4 Disconnect Load
5 Clear data memory
In the keypad, there are numbers 0 to 9 keys, the “*” key
and the “#” key. The “*” in this keypad operation serves two
other functions apart from its primary purposes. It serves as
the MENU key when pressed once and EXIT key otherwise.
As the menu key, it opens up a page that displays the various
operations with their corresponding number input to achieve
each of those operations. As an exit key, it closes any page
that is currently open on the screen once pressed.
The “#” key serves as the ENTER key apart from its
primary function. As enter key, it is used to confirm
operations or a selection on any page that is opened at that
moment. These two keys retains these function even in the
submenus of these main menu.
3.2.3. Application Platform
This is the platform for the administration of the system by
the utility company and for managing the database of
consumers. It is made up of two parts namely the server part
and the application platform part which is the user interface
(UI) part of the utility company. The application platform
was developed using visual studio (visual basic). The server
software is embedded in the Atmega328P (Arduino Uno)
microcontroller which enables it to communicate with the
meter through the modem (SIM900), while the application
platform software and UI resides in the PC. Figure 8 shows
the Application platform.
The application platform is used to generate token and this
token can be recharged to the meter from this platform by
clicking the recharge button and the token will be transferred
to the “Test” editable textbox. Clicking the “Test” button sends
the token to the meter through the server hardware for recharge.
 American Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications 2018; 6(1): 46-55 53

Figure 8. Application Platform.

respectively at 220V and the time taken for 0.01KWh (0.01

4. Test
Test and measurement were carried out to determine the
compliance level of the developed meter with the objectives
of the work. The two major test carried out were the load test
and the token test which are discussed in sections 4.1 and 4.2.
4.1. Load Test
The load tests were carried out at 320W, 200W and 160W
Table 2. Load Test.
unit) in each case were recorded. It was done repeatedly for a
number of times and the mean time on each load category
was obtained and recorded as shown in Table 2. The purpose
of this test was to show the measuring ability of the
developed meter. The smallest unit of 0.01 unit was taken as
a referenced unit of measurement. This test was carried out
with the aid of stop watch, variable load, and the energy
meter developed.

320W LOAD TEST 200W LOAD TEST 160W LOAD TEST

LAP CUM TIME IN 2 LAP CUM TIME IN 2 LAP CUM TIME IN
LAP (Y-Ῡ) (Y-Ῡ) (Y-Ῡ)2
TIME TIME SEC TIME TIME SEC TIME TIME SEC
1 2:13 2:13 133 0.25 3:54 3:54 234 0.49 5:12 5:12 312 0.81
2 2:14 4:27 134 0.25 3:54 7:48 234 0.49 5:11 10:23 311 0.01
3 2:15 6:43 135 2.25 3:54 11:43 234 0.49 5:11 15:34 311 0.01
4 2:12 8:56 132 2.25 3:54 15:37 234 0.49 5:11 20:45 311 0.01
5 2:13 11:09 133 0.25 3:52 19:30 232 1.69 5:10 25:55 310 1.21
6 2:14 13:24 134 0.25 3:53 23:24 233 0.09 5:10 26:05 310 1.21
7 2:14 15:38 134 0.25 3:53 27:17 233 0.09 5:10 31:15 310 1.21
8 2:14 17:52 134 0.25 3:53 31:11 233 0.09 5:10 36:25 310 1.21
9 2:15 20:07 135 2.25 3:53 35:04 233 0.09 5:13 41:38 313 3.61
10 2:12 22:20 132 2.25 3:53 38:57 233 0.09 5:13 46:51 313 3.61
11 2:13 24:34 133 0.25
12 2:13 26:48 133 0.25
13 2:14 29:09 134 0.25
14 2:13 31:16 133 0.25
15 2:13 33:30 133 0.25
MEAN TIME D 133.5 Σ = 11.75 MEAN TIME 233.3 Σ = 4.1 MEAN TIME 311.1 Σ = 12.9

Standard Deviation:
1. 320W Load, σ320W = √(11.75/15) = 0.88
2. 200W Load, σ200W = √(4.1/10) = 0.64
3. 160W Load, σ160W = √(12.9/10) = 1.14
54 Henry Erialuode Amhenrior and Fredrick Edeko: Design and Implementation of a GSM-Based Single Phase
Prepayment Energy Meter with Hybrid Recharge Mode
4.2. Token Test
Table 3 shows the success rate for token generation and validation by the three means of recharging the developed meter
namely SMS, Keypad and Supply Authority Application Platform.
Table 3. Token Test.
SN Description Numbers of Times Numbers of Success
1 Token generation 40 40
2 Token validation 40 40
5. Discussion
Having successfully develop the energy metering system
with hybrid recharging mode, it was subjected to load and
token tests to ensure the performance ommunication show
that this form of communicatio is optimal.
One of the quality that shows the good performance of this
meter is the increase in time for the consumption of the same
unit of energy as the load decreases. This shows that the
developed meter in this research is indeed an effective energy
measuring meter. At 320W, 200W and 160W load, the mean
time required for the consumption of 0.01KWh for the
developed meter were 133.46s, 233.3s and 311.1s
respectively with their corresponding standard deviation of
0.88, 0.64 and 1.14.
The SMS communication here is a two-way
communication and this enables the meter to be recharged
wirelessly and get the unit balance whenever any of the three
means of recharging is used. A mean time of 47.5s of round
trip time was recorded for SMS recharging. The test results
of this SMS c n is very effective and successful. The results
also show 100% success rate recharging in the three mode of
recharging the meter namely SMS, Keypad and Supply
Authority Platform. Also, 100% token validation in the meter
in SMS recharging was achieved as opposed to the validation
in the server as proposed by Omijeh and Ighalo [19] and
other researchers. This has shown a considerable advantage
over the traditional way of recharging Prepayment meters in
Nigeria through one means. Again, it has help to remove
distance as a barrier to recharging meters and the risk of odd
hour recharging.
6. Conclusion
Prepayment Energy Meter is a veritable tool for electrical
power consumption measurement for both the electricity
distribution companies and the consumers. Therefore,
improvement in the design and functioning of the meters
especially in the recharging mode is very imperative. In this
research work, a wireless GSM-Based token recharge system
in addition to the keypad system, providing an alternative
means of recharge for the energy meter was developed. This
system has made token recharge more flexible, easy, and
reduces the risk of going out to key-in recharge token into
meters at odd hours in environments where security is an
issue at such time for the consumer. Most importantly, meters
cannot be declared obsolete whenever the keypad is faulty as
Numbers of Failure % of Success % of Failure
0 100 0
0 100 0
SMS means of recharging will still be available. This
developed hybrid recharge technology is a marked
improvement over the traditional method of energy meter
recharging.
The mean time of 47.5s recorded from the SMS round trip
time showed that SMS platform of the GSM communication
network is very efficient and effective in wireless recharge of
token into the energy meter. In order to guaranty this negligible
SMS recharging, the GSM Network Operators will be the key
driver of the communication component to ensure a minimum
level of service provisioning and availability of network in the
areas of coverage at a cost that is relatively moderate. This,
therefore calls for a service agreement between the GSM
Network operators and the distribution companies
Based on the results obtained, the GSM-Based single
Phase Prepayment Energy Meter with hybrid recharge system
developed in this work is reliable and efficient for use by the
supply authority and the consumer. With this, the objectives
of this work are fully realized.
References
[1] R. Berhanu, V. M Ana, I. M. Gómez, R. Octavio, A. G. José,
“Upgrading of Traditional Electric Meter into Wireless
Electric Meter Using ZigBee Technology”, In: L. R. Matías,
M. F. A. José, J. G. R. Juan, L. Josef, J. B. O. Francisco, and
M. Antonio eds. 2011, IT Revolution- Third International
ICST Conference. Spain: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. pp 84-
94, 2012.
[2] J. Ami and B. Mohnish, “A prepaid meter using mobile
communication”, International Journal of Engineering,
Science and Technology, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 160-166, 2011.
[3] J. Tariq, “Design and Implementation of a Wireless Automatic
Meter Reading System”, Proceedings of the World Congress
on Engineering. London, July 2 - 4, Vol 1, U. K., 2008.
[4] H. Mejbaul, H. Kamal, A. Mortuza, I. Rafiqul,
“Microcontroller Based Single Phase Digital Prepaid Energy
Meter for Improved Metering and Billing System”,
International Journal of Power Electronics and Drive System
(IJPEDS), Vol. 1, No. 2 pp. 139-147, 2011.
[5] C. Ankit, H. Yen-Chia, Pattaramon and Vuttipittayamongkol,
“Prepaid Electricity Meter”, ECE445 Senior Design.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, unpublished,
2011.
[6] O. Paschal, “Recharging & Loading Energy Prepayment
Meter,” (2016 Available at:
<https://www.naijatechguide.com/2007/11/recharging-your-
energy-prepayment-meter.html> [Accessed: 4 July 2016]
 American Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications 2018; 6(1): 46-55
[7] M. Christopher, “Arduino Based Wireless Power Meter”, M.
Eng, Cornell University, 2010.
[8] T. H. G. Rodney, C. H. Lee, V. H. Mok, “Automatic power
meter reading system using GSM network”, The 8 Conference
(IPEC 2007). International Power Engineering.
[9] B. O. Omijeh and G. I. Ighalo, “Design and Simulation of
Single Phase Intelligent Prepaid Energy Meter”, Innovative
System Design and Engineering, Volume 4, No 1, Pp 17-29,
2013.
[10] W. Chunjuan and Y. Junjie, “Implementation of Automatic
Meter Reading System Using PLC and GPRS”, Journal of
Information & Computational Science, Vol 8, No 16, Pp
4343–4350, 2011.
[11] S. R Boyina, B. Gnanasekaranathan, M. Raguram, S.
Pravinkumar and P. Kamalesh, “Domestic Prepaid Energy
Distribution System for Saving of Power Consumption”,
International Journal of Advanced Engineering Technology,
Vol. 3, Issue 2, pp 26-29, 2012.
[12] Rachitha. G, Raushan Kumar, Srilakshmi. S, Koustubh
Mishra, Suma Umesh, “GSM based Energy Meter and Billing
via SMS”, International Journal of Latest Research in
Engineering and Technology (IJLRET), PP. 209-212, 2016.
[13] Diya Elizabeth Paul and Alpha Vijayan (2016), “Smart Energy
Meter Using Android Application and GSM Network”,
International Journal Of Engineering And Computer Science,
Volume – Issue 5, Pp. 16058-16063, 03 March, 2016.
[14] K. Jubi and J. Mareena, “Prepaid Energy Meter with GSM
Technology”, American International Journal of Research in
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, Vol. 3
(2), Pp 195-198, 2013.
[15] Anthony Uwakhonye Adoghe, Victor Olugbenga Matthews,
Peter Aigboviosa Amaize, Joseph Oluwole Oloweni,
Timilehin Fiyinfoluwa Sanni and Olayinka Ayo (2016),
55
“Design and Implementation of a Single-Phase Energy Meter
with SMS Controlled and Monitored Recharge Capability”,
Journal of Energy and Power Engineering Vol. 10 534-539,
2016. doi: 10. 17265/1934-8975/2016. 09. 003
[16] Giri Prasad. S, Akesh. R, BalaPravin. C, Gokila Devi. S,
Gowri Devi. D (2017), “IoT Based Energy Meter”,
International Journal of Recent Trends in Engineering &
Research (IJRTER) Conference on Electronics, Information
and Communication Systems (CELICS’17) Special Issue;
March, 2017. DOI: 10. 23883/IJRTER. CONF. 20170331.
013. MQVSD
[17] Nazmat Toyin SURAJUDEEN-Bakinde, Sunday Olufenka
Ayodele, Timilehin David Oloruntoba, Abdulrahaman Okino
Otuoze and Nasir Faruk “Development of an Internet Based
Prepaid Energy Meter” IEEE 3rd International Conference on
Electro-Technology for National Development (NIGERCON)
Pp. 1125-1129, 2017.
[18] Mayur Rawte, Shrishti Sharma and Praveen Lalwani (2017),
“Smart Prepaid Energy Meter based on Internet of Things”,
International Journal of Computer Applications, Volume 171 –
No. 2, Pp 23-26, August 2017.
[19] B. O. Omijeh and G. I. Ighalo, “Design of A Robust Prepaid
Energy Metering and Billing System, JORIND, 10 (3), pp
146-153, 2012.
[20] Analog Devices, “Energy Metering IC with Pulse Output:
ADE7755”, One Technology Way, Norwood, MA 02062-
9106, U. S. A., 2002-2009.
[21] I. A. A. Muzafar, “Single Phase Intelligent GSM Based Prepaid
Energy Meter”, B. Sc. University of Khartoum, pp 1-63, 2013.
[22] H. E. Amhenrior, “Analysis and Development of a GSM-
Based Recharging and Monitoring of Energy Metering
System”, PhD Thesis, University of Benin, Benin City, Edo
State, Nigeria, 2017.