**Abstract**

Environmental awareness, current trends in the power market, the quest for energy efficiency, and the progressive transformation of electricity consumers to prosumers are the primary drives for the gradual shift from the old power grids into the smart grids. The deployment of renewable dispersed generation systems and energy storage units uncovered the need for smart metering to oversee and control those generation systems. This chapter presents the design and development of a robust, efficient, multi-functional, and low-cost smart meter. The proposed metering system has added features that enabled the utilities to recover the meter energy measurement data remotely. The system allows monitoring and transmission of energy consumed in real-time. It considers using a microcontroller board as the controlling unit to execute control and monitor activities. A liquid crystal display displays standard electrical measurements such as current, voltage, power, and energy consumption. The external communication device is required in the unit's actualization, in conjunction with the control unit based on the existing mobile technology. It stands as the intermediary between the nearby available utility station and consumers or endusers. In conclusion, liquid crystal display displays real-time based data for the enduser to visualize. The usage data billing is done within thirty seconds, stored, and trans-received the process for data collection, keeping, and billing generation.

**Keywords:** smart grid, smart meter, evolution of electricity meter, LCD, GSM

### **1. Introduction**

In recent times, the deployment of renewable dispersed generation systems and energy storage units uncovered the need for smart metering to oversee and control the generating units. The first-generation of the smart meter was developed in 2005 to transmit data back to the energy supplier. During the process, transferring data every month was upgraded to sharing of data daily or hourly. The process has helped the customers to be able to consume and produce concurrently. This demonstrates smart meters'significance to electromechanical devices [1], which is only limited to electricity consumption measurement. References [2, 3] reported that in a year time (2020), an estimated one billion smart meters would be produced globally. The researcher further stated that the US would be closed to 65 million demands quota of smart meters by the said year: the expected highest demand by any country out a billion quantities. More so, dated as far back the year 1990, exploring gathered information collected from an energy metering device to bill

through a central database came to limelight through a technology called Automatic Meter Reader over from then electromechanical meter.

The flowchart diagram displayed in **Figure 1** illustrates the process involved in smart meter evolution [2, 4]. Reference [5] stated that smart energy meter operates in two formats, such as the automatic meter reader (AMR) and the advanced meter infrastructure (AMI). According to Reference [6], AMR is an electronic meter that employs one-way communication data collection. It is a classy system that automatically calculates billing and relays the information about the energy supplier's consumption rate remotely. The system could involve various techniques to communicate, including general packet radio service (GPRS), supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), radiofrequency (RF), and global system for mobile (GSM). Given this, the researcher concluded that GSM is the most adaptive device with many users and the coverage zone for data transmission. This quality enhances the chances of using the system for metering purposes. Also, energy meters that use GSM prepare data for easy access to energy consumers and energy suppliers.

On the other hand, AMI is an electronic meter that communicates between the energy provider and customers by informing them about the specific interval data. AMI integrates two-way communication and an electronic meter designed to observe and regulate the grid system [7].

A smart metering system could be described as an energy system that measures energy consumption, data collection, data creation, and energy billing activities. References [6, 8–12] define smart meters as the device built and installed around a home or business to measure real-time consumption rate of electric, gas, and water used to envisage the improvement required for the accuracy, reliability, and efficiency enhancement of the outdated or/and overburden electrical, water and gas grids. Reference [13] categorically stated that a smart energy meter is an electrical device that tracks energy usage, and instantaneously communicates the energy supplier's outcome. Understandably, the process of transferring the energy captured, recorded, and stored at the electricity distributors through a wireless network takes ≤30 seconds to deliver. Reference [14] described the impact smart meter energy has on enhancing energy efficiency challenges through a concept called intelligent energy network. This concept comprises energy meter devices and intelligent communication technology (ICT). Intelligent energy networking was pointed

**Figure 1.** *Evolution of energy metering to the smart meter.*

out as the ultimate energy device needed in achieving smart energy metering systems. This device can effectively monitor and control energy data exchange between the utility and the consumers. This process is performed in two-way directionally between meters to meters regarding the networking type imbibed. Reference [15] mentioned the significance of smart metering as an antidote to a more energy-efficient and metering system that gives accurate meter reading and billing system. However, smart metering has related working principles with the conventional meter in arrangement and calculation of physical quantities but differs from the computational aspect. Smart metering computes less energy consumption rate either in hourly or in seconds rather than in monthly. Reference [5] said that smart energy meter operates in two formats, such as AMR and AMI. AMR communicates and collects data for the utility company just in one direction. In the same section, AMI was described as an electronic meter that communicates between the energy provider and customers by informing them about the data collected at a certain interval. The further description illustrates that AMI integrates two-way communication and electronic meter to observe and regulate the grid system [7]. Additionally, a first-generation smart meter was developed in 2005 to transmit data back to the energy supplier. During the process, transmitting data on a monthly basis was upgraded to sharing data daily or hourly. The process has helped the customers to be able to consume and produce concurrently. This demonstrates smart meters'significance to electromechanical devices [16], which is only limited to electricity consumption measurement. Apart from that, the electromechanical device lacks consistency when it comes to energy measurement and encouragement for criminal activities. The demand for the supply of electrical energy brings about the existence of electronic meters with additional functions. However, electronic meters work on a principle of digital micro- technology (DMT). The application of this principle has no involvement in the moving disc, which results in wear and tear of the moving parts [17]. The electronic meter performs the automatic meter reading from consumers to both production and control executes by the utility. In that case, the smart energy meter combines the electronic device, intelligent communication technology, and control system in real time.
