Prepaid energy meter tamper notification system.

Abstract

The prepaid Meter tamper notification system is a system prototype designed to detect the tampers with the smart electric energy meter. The prototype combines tamper detection module that consist of the capacitive touch sensor, light dependent resistor as the light sensor and tilt sensor with an Atmel chip the 8-bit ATMega-328PU microcontroller in 28 pin DIP package, with double flash space and relay switch that automatically switches off the residence in case of tamper detection. The SIM900 GSM Modem is used to send notifications to the nearest utility supervisor/manager about what happens in real-time where the meter is installed and LCD- JHD162A model to display the meter status. The overall objective of this project is to reduce on the power distribution losses incurred by the Utility companies due to energy meter tampering in a remote location where they are installed. This project was therefore aimed at developing a GSM based system that would solve the above problem through the following ways; monitoring and detecting the physical tampers on the meter installed at a residence and then automatically cut-off power in case of tamper, notifications to the responsible person(s) about the state of meter at home. The work is arranged mainly in six chapters, Chapter one includes the introduction of a prepaid meter tamper notification system. Chapter two discusses the literature related to the system, Chapter three illustrates the methodologies used in coming up with the working prototype of the system, Chapter four includes system design and analysis, Chapter five is contains the implementation and testing of the system and chapter six contains the summary of the work, discussions and recommendations.