Umudike Journal of Engineering and Technology

This paper focuses on the design and development of a prepaid smart card energy meter. The electricity distribution companies are collecting their revenue from customers by billing system. The charges given to consumers became so high per unit. Customers used this opportunity to forge meter readings and also show reluctance towards paying their electricity bills on time. This brought about a high percentage of revenue lost to power theft and other illegal activities. The method employed the used of digital meter module that was interfaced with the microcontroller to count the total units purchased from the smart card and anytime the unit become zero, the microcontroller gives the signal to the relay to switch off the energy meter. The designed system facilitates energy management, and restricts the usage of electricity automatically, if the bill is not paid. The system also enabled the consumer to buy required amount of energy and provide information about their credit balance. A prepaid smart card energy meter has been developed and all the information obtained was found to be perfect, reliable, cost effective and easy maintenance. The test results obtained from the energy meter for the loads 40W, 60W, 100W, and 200W gave the following energy measurements: 0.2325kWH, 0.3522kWH, 0.5800kWH, and 1.1600kWH, respectively.