System for Measurement of Electric Energy Using Beacons with Optical Sensors and LoRaWAN Transmission

TL;DR

This paper presents an energy-efficient electric energy measurement system using beacons with optical sensors and LoRaWAN transmission, demonstrating effective data collection in urban environments.

Contribution

It introduces a novel measurement system and evaluates LoRaWAN's energy efficiency and coverage in urban conditions.

Findings

LoRaWAN is highly energy-efficient for this application.

The system achieves decent transmission range in dense urban areas.

The approach enables reliable energy data collection from non-smart meters.

Abstract

In this article, we present the results of experiments with finding an efficient radio transmission method for an electric energy measurement system called OneMeter 2.0. This system offers a way of collecting energy usage data from beacons attached to regular, non-smart meters. In our study, we compared several low power wide area network (LPWAN) protocols, out of which we chose the LoRaWAN protocol. We verified the energy consumption of a LoRa-based transmission unit, as well as the transmission range between network nodes in urban conditions. We discovered that LoRaWAN-based transmission was highly energy-efficient and offered decent coverage, even in a difficult, dense urban environment.