A prepaid billing electric power unit sharing and borrowing system.

Abstract

An electrical utility industry is the major provider of energy in most of the countries all over the world. Electricity is one of the key elements for a developing country like Uganda. It is used in factories, commercial establishments, homes and also during recreational activities. The absence or lack of electricity can not only lead to inconveniences but also to a very high economic loss to the country both directly and indirectly. Despite the existing prepaid electric power billing systems in Uganda, there was a need for a system that allows sharing of electric power units between customers or the access of power units through borrowing from these power utility companies in a safe and secure way at no extra cost. The main objective of this project was to design and implement a prepaid billing electric power unit sharing system that enables customers of electric power distribution companies that use prepaid billing systems to share electric units amongst themselves using the system and also borrow units from the system. The system is able to authenticate the customer through a secure Personal Identification Number (PIN), after which he/she is given an interface based on a menu to navigate the functionality of the system. The menu provides options for sharing units, borrowing units, resetting the PIN and contacting the electric power distribution company via a text message. One of these options such as sharing is used to send units via an SMS text message through a GSM module to the customer who makes the request. The SMS text contains a fourteen-digit token that is used to increment the units of this customer on input. The borrowing option helps a user to initiate an auto increment of specified customer units to the system that makes the request.