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Developed by researchers in China, the new calculator uses current and voltage sensors, a Raspberry Pi and a fuzzy logic algorithm to determine frequency and demand variations. The tool sends email notifications with the tariff values ??to the owners of the photovoltaic systems.
Scientists from Chinas State Grid Hebei Marketing Service Center have created an Internet of Things-based calculator to estimate feed-in and net metering tariffs for residential PV systems connected to energy storage systems.
Called Smart TARiff (STAR), the calculator uses current and voltage sensors to collect data on the current and voltage of the connection to home devices. These sensors provide this information to the microprocessor of a Raspberry Pi, which is a minicomputer on a circuit board that allows users to control electronic components for physical computing and explore the Internet of Things (IoT).
“The Raspberry microcontroller takes care of Internet connectivity through its built-in WIFI module in order to transmit real-time power consumption of remote-controlled electrical and electronic appliances over the Internet,” the academics said.
The device also uses a fuzzy logic algorithm to determine frequency and demand variations. “Our design primarily focuses on the allocation of users available electricity,” explain the researchers, noting that the power and energy consumption of the main loads in a home are transmitted through a cloud server to a MATLAB application for monitoring from anywhere.
The tool then sends email notifications with the tariff values ??to the owners of the PV systems.
“This system could be used to reduce electrical energy waste in the home through proper programming and monitoring of household appliances,” says the Chinese group. “Including voltage sensing in hardware, as well as processing it to calculate power, can improve the accuracy of this device.” |
