Real-time Loading of Units on Prepaid Energy Meters

Prepaid meters have helped utility companies to efficiently collect revenue, where the user pays for power prior using it. The motive of this project is to design and demonstrate a prepaid meter with remote activation of units upon payment. The 8bit RISC Atmel ATMEGA328P-PU microcontroller is interfaced with the global system for mobile communications (GSM) modem to provide ON-NET communication with the payment service provider. When the customer pays for energy using any recommended payment system, the payment notification is sent to the utility sever stationed at the utility¿s control center and to the customer mobile phone. In response, the server sends the payment acknowledgment to the customers meter through the GSM modem. The microcontroller in the customer meter sends the activation signal to the relay to load the units and hence power is restored. The purchased units are displayed on the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). The system was designed, built, and tested. The units were able to be remotely activated to the customer meter, however a keypad on the customer interface unit is maintained for manual loading of units in case of network problems.