IOT based Energy Monitoring for Practical Loads using NodeMCU

LOGANATHAN NACHIMUTHU*, REEM AHMED AL-MAHROUQI,

TAMADHAR SALIM AL-ABRI, MUNA AL-HADRAMI

Electrical Engineering,

University of Technology and Applied Sciences,

Nizwa,

SULTANATE OF OMAN

*Corresponding Author

Abstract: - Electrical energy monitoring is increasingly important nowadays for residential and commercial

usage. The energy meters are installed in consumer’s houses to track their energy usage. There are many

chances of human mistakes for every electricity consumer while recording the manual energy meter reading in

their houses. Also, the consumer does not have updated information about current electricity usage in each

hour, day, and month. To overcome the above problems, the system is developed to remotely monitor from any

world location using the NodeMCU and Arduino IDE. The energy monitoring is carried out by using the Node

MCU, Arduino IDE, and PZEM-004T sensor. The PZEM-004T module is coupled to the Arduino controller.

The sensor module receives a signal from the CT coil which is connected to load. The load parameters such as

voltage current power etc., are measured and transferred to the Arduino. A NodeMCU ESP8266 is utilized as a

Wi-Fi chip system. By using a Wi-Fi connection and the internet, the acquired data is sent to Thing Speak to

save in the cloud to monitor the measured parameters remotely. The power analyzer instrument is also used to

measure the real-time parameters consumed by the load which is used to cross verification and compare with

the sensor measuring parameters. The passive load resistance, inductance, and 100-watt lamp loads are

experimentally connected and tested. The load consumed electrical parameters such as current, voltage, power,

power factor, real power, and frequency are monitored in online. Energy monitoring online may reduce the

consumer's mistakes by recording the parameters and consumers can know each hour, day, and month's energy

consumption up to date according to their usage.

Key-Words: - Arduino, NodeMCU, energy monitoring, PZEM-400T, CT, current, voltage, power analyzer.

Received: April 17, 2022. Revised: August 12, 2023. Accepted: October 9, 2023. Published: November 7, 2023.

1 Introduction

Present days, the electric power supply is needed for

every human’s lifestyle. In comparison to prior

periods, the amount of power consumption is

increasing daily. The electricity energy meters are

installed in each consumer’s house to measure their

energy usage. Many consumers only know the

consumed energy at the end of the month or they

have to frequently check their energy meter to know

the energy consumption. It is difficult to keep track

of how much energy is used each day and hour. To

track and assess how much energy is consumed in

the home and office is developed and implemented

by using the intelligent technique in this paper. In

recent trends, the IOT (Internet of Things) is

extensively used for many applications. The sensors

and software, networks are embedded in electronics

to simplify the devices to measure and store the

electrical parameters. The word “Things” in the

Internet of Things states that the communication

devices and other electrical apparatus like lights,

TVs, and fans for power management in the

building, [1], or checking the photovoltaic panels,

[2]. There are various paths have implemented to

link the Internet of Things, [3].

The IOT application is used to monitor the

electrical power and energy measurement systems,

[4]. Extensive research studies are available about

IOT-based energy monitoring to measure the status

of the appliances in homes. The studies, [5], [6], [7],

did smart meter design to measure the energy. They

designed the GSM (Global System for Mobile

Communication) networks to display the measured

parameters of the electrical appliances using the

PZEM-004T sensor. The Atmega328p

microcontroller and Wi-Fi Module were used to

monitor the electrical parameters, [8]. They

designed the circuit to monitor the power and

money transfer system through the Internet.

WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ELECTRONICS

DOI: 10.37394/232017.2023.14.6

Loganathan Nachimuthu,

Reem Ahmed Al-Mahrouqi,

Tamadhar Salim Al-Abri, Muna Al-Hadrami

E-ISSN: 2415-1513

Volume 14, 2023

NodeMCU with the Blynk app was introduced to

connect Android mobile phones to quickly measure,

record, and compute the electrical bills through the

cloud, [9]. The ESP8266 microcontroller and

PZEM-400T sensor were used to monitor the power,

[10]. Moreover, using the Fiware platform to gather

the electrical power and room temperature data to

send alerts systems under emergency circumstances,

[11]. The remote energy monitoring is also done

based on the browser /server (B/S structure), [12].

The system developed not only monitors the energy

online also the system helps to save energy. The

energy monitoring and controlling in a switchgear

industry based on Raspberry Pi, [13]. This energy

monitoring system is very useful for the industry

day to day energy consumption to conserve energy

consumption. IOT-based monitoring the renewable

energy is done through Raspberry Pi using the Flask

framework, [14]. This system was developed to

display the daily usage of renewable energy smartly.

The energy monitoring system precisely calculates

the power consumed using Arduino and IOT, [15].

This paper explains how to monitor the energy

online and remotely control the electrical

appliances. The IoT-based energy management

system for smart cities is based on the edge

computing infrastructure, [16]. This paper presented

an emerging deep reinforcement learning (DRL)

technique for an energy scheduling scheme for a

long-term goal. IOT-based electrical energy was

displayed on a smartphone and the data was saved

in the cloud system to monitor the energy

consumption online, [17].

The proposed work is to monitor the energy

parameters using the cutting-edge domains of

Arduino and the Internet of Things. The circuit is

based on the Arduino, ESP8266 controller, PZEM-

004T current and voltage sensor. The ESP8266

used only a Wi-Fi chip system and the Arduino was

mainly used as controller. The experimental results

are carried out by using different practical loads

such as resistance, inductance passive loads, and

lamp loads of different watts. The measured energy

parameters of voltage, current, power, power factor,

frequency, and energy are displayed in the LCD.

The same parameters are also measured through the

digital power analyzer instrument to check and

compare between the real-time measured data and

sensor-measured data online. The error calculation

is also carried out to know the % of errors. The

measured electrical parameters are sent to the cloud

through the Thing Speak platform for online

physical monitoring from anywhere in the world.

2 Problem Formulation

Energy meters are installed on consumer’s premises

to track their energy usage. It is not easy to see the

day, week, or month’s energy consumption by the

consumer. Moreover, the power meters are fixed at

difficult locations in the consumer houses which

makes it not easy to regularly monitor their power

meter. The problems that might occur with the

current system are: The chance of human mistake is

very high while recording the manual meter reading,

the consumer is not updated about current electricity

usage, and the consumer has difficulty knowing the

consumed energy in each hour, day, and month.

2.1 Objectives

To design the system for real-time consumption

monitoring by graphical form remote monitoring

energy usages of the house devices. To detect the

electricity theft in the house. To measure more than

5 electrical quantiles such as voltage, current,

power, power factor, energy & frequency

3 Block Diagram and Its Description

Fig. 1: Block diagram for the project

Figure 1 shows the block diagram of the project.

The PZEM-004TV3 module is coupled to the

Arduino controller and, through the PZEM, receives

a signal from the CT coil that is attached to the lamp

load. The PZEM-004TV3 module and CT coil were

Through a USB wire, a separate DC 5V is provided

to the Arduino. According to the programming in

the Arduino, the I2C -LCD adapter is used to

operate the 16 x 2 display, which displays the

WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ELECTRONICS

DOI: 10.37394/232017.2023.14.6

Loganathan Nachimuthu,

Reem Ahmed Al-Mahrouqi,

Tamadhar Salim Al-Abri, Muna Al-Hadrami

E-ISSN: 2415-1513

Volume 14, 2023

voltage, current, and power measurements of the

load. A NodeMCU ESP8266 is utilized as a Wi-Fi

chip system. By using a WiFi connection and the

Internet, the acquired data is sent to Thingspeak to

save in the cloud for visualization and analysis

purposes. The power analyzer is also used to

measure the real-time energy monitor to compare

with the sensor measuring parameters.

3.1 Description of Components

In this project, various components are used. The

components are discussed below in detail, with their

work in this project.

3.1.1 Arduino Uno

Arduino is an open-source prototyping platform

with simple hardware and software. It is formed

from a circuit board that may be programmed

(referred to as a microcontroller). Arduino boards

can receive analog or digital input data from a

variety of sensors and convert them to an output,

such as driving a motor, turning on/off LEDs,

connecting to the cloud, and doing a variety of other

tasks. There are many types of Arduino depending

on the different microcontrollers used, in our project

we use Arduino Uno.

3.1.2 PZEM-004TV3 Module

The PZEM-004T board measures 3.1 by 7.4 cm.

The module's CT coil has a 33mm diameter. The

SD3004 chip from SDIC Microelectronics Co., Ld.

is the module's primary component [9]. The board

has an Atmel 24C02C erasable PROM EEPROM

with a 4.5V to 5.5V voltage range. Two PC817 opt

couplers are used to galvanic ally separate the serial

interface. Electronic modules like the PZEM-004T

are used to measure things like voltage, energy,

power, frequency, current, and power factors. The

PZEM-004T module is ideal for use as a project or

experiment to measure the power on an electrical

power network, such as a household or building,

because it includes all of these capabilities and

functionalities. The PZEM-004TV3 module is used

with a measuring range of 100A. The range to

measure the voltage is 80-260V. The range to

measure the current is 0-10A and 0-100A. The

range to measure the active power is 0-2.3kV and

0-23kV. The range to measure the power factor is

0-1. The range to measure the frequency is

45HZ-65HZThe range to measure the voltage is 80-

260V. The range to measure the current is 0-10A

and 0-100A. The range to measure the active power

is 0-2.3kV and 0-23kV. The range to measure the

power factor is 0-1. The range to measure the

frequency is 45HZ-65HZ.

3.1.3 CT Coil

A sort of "instrument transformer," the Current

Transformer (C.T.), is made to produce an

alternating current proportional to the current

monitored in its primary winding in its secondary

winding. The genuine electrical current flowing in

an AC transmission line can be safely monitored

using a standard ammeter using current

transformers, which reduce high voltage currents to

manageable levels. A basic current transformer

operates on a somewhat different principle than a

standard voltage transformer. CTs can be used to

monitor current or to turn the main current into the

decreased secondary current for meters, relays,

control devices, and other devices. The high voltage

primary is isolated by CTs that convert current. The

current transformer, employed with an air core, a

current transformer contains a main winding, a core,

and a secondary winding. Over a certain range, a

current transformer is designed to maintain an exact

ratio between the currents in its primary and

secondary circuits.

3.1.4 I2C LCD Module

A conventional LCD is simpler to attach than an

I2C LCD. Rather than 12, only connect 4 pins. Start

by attaching the GND pin to the ground and the VIN

pin to the Arduino's 5V output. I2C pins are unique

to each Arduino board and must be linked properly.

On Arduino boards with the R3 configuration, the

AREF pin is close to the headers for the SDA (data

line) and SCL (clock line) pins. There are two more

names for them: A5 (SCL) and A4 (SDA).

An I2C LCD has four pins which interface it to the

outside world:

GND: The ground pin, GND should be linked to the

Arduino's ground.

VCC: The module and the LCD are both powered

by VCC. Connect it to the Arduino's 5V output or a

different power source.

SDA: SDA stands for Serial Data. This line is used

to send and receive data.

SCL: SCL stands for Serial Clock. The Bus Master

provides this signal as a time signal.

3.1.5 Load

The circuit is connected with the 100 W Lamp load

and passive loads 2kW (resistance and inductance).

3.1.6 NodeMCU

The NodeMCU (Node MicroController Unit) is an

open-source hardware and software development.

The ESP8266 NodeMCU is powered using a

MicroB USB port on the device's PCB. The board

WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ELECTRONICS

DOI: 10.37394/232017.2023.14.6

Loganathan Nachimuthu,

Reem Ahmed Al-Mahrouqi,

Tamadhar Salim Al-Abri, Muna Al-Hadrami

E-ISSN: 2415-1513

Volume 14, 2023

contains an integrated LDO (Linear and Low-

Dropout) voltage regulator to maintain a constant

voltage of 3.3V and 600 mA. The ESP8266's

operating voltage range is 3V to 3.6V. The

operational current for RF transmissions is 80 mA.

On one of the board's sides, the regulator's output is

also divided up and designated with the number

3V3. This pin can be used to power external

components.

4 Circuit Diagram

The circuit diagram consists of the following main

components represented in Figure 2.

 Arduino UNO

 PZEM-004TV3 module

 CT coil

 16*2 LCD

 I2C LCD adapter

 Node MCU

 Load, AC 230V supply

 DC Power supply

The project circuit consists of an Arduino Uno

board, AC 230 V supply mains, Current transformer

load, and PZEM-004t module. The PZEM -004T

module is made by Peacefair Electronics and its

operation is based on the current transformer

measurement (CT). The PZEM 004T module is

responsible for all parameters parameter

measurements such as voltage, current, power

consumption, energy consumption, frequency, and

power factor. The PZEM module is

connected to the Arduino Uno board through the

UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver and

Transmitter) serial communication port Tx and Rx

on one side of the module and the static load line is

connected on the other side of the module. The

supply line and neutral are directly connected to the

PZEM-004T module to deliver the voltage

measurement. The 100A/ 100mA current

transformer (CT) is looped through the load neutral

to provide the current measurement.

The PZEM-004T module internally measures

and computes the voltage, current, power

consumption, energy consumption, frequency, and

power factor. The output data is sent to the Arduino

Uno board. The Arduino will send this output to

LCD to display the measured parameters. Here the

different types of loads are used to measure the

parameters. The loads such as 100 Watts lamp load,

static resistive load bank, and static inductive load

bank are used with different load levels. The loads

are connected from the supply mains through the CT

and Digital Power Analyzer to monitor and compare

the real-time measured parameters with PZEM-

measured parameters.

Fig. 2: Circuit diagram

The Node MCU is connected to the Arduino

Uno board through the UART (Universal

Asynchronous Receiver and Transmitter) serial

communication port TX and RX on pins 5 and 6

respectively. The NodeMCU will transmit the

measured data via an internet connection. On a

desktop or laptop computer, a browser can be used

to access real-time data.

When the load circuit is switched on, the load

current starts to flow in the load circuit and is sensed

by the current transformer. The sensed current is

read by the power side circuit of PZEM-004T. The

PZEM-004T module sends a command to Arduino

to display the load circuit current. Similarly, voltage

is read by PZEM-004T and commands the Arduino

to display. Based on the current and voltage across

the load, the frequency, power, energy, and power

factor are displayed on the LCD. The PZEM-004T

operates with a 5V DC power supply. The measured

parameter data is sent to the cloud through the Node

MCU with the Thing Speak platform.

4.1 Hardware Connection Description

Figure 3 shows the Hardware connection

 The Vin pin of the LCD-I2C is connected to the

pin 5V of the Arduino.

 The GND pin of the LCD-I2C is connected to

the GND of the Arduino.

 The SDA pin of the LCD-I2C is connected to

the pin A4 of the Arduino.

WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ELECTRONICS

DOI: 10.37394/232017.2023.14.6

Loganathan Nachimuthu,

Reem Ahmed Al-Mahrouqi,

Tamadhar Salim Al-Abri, Muna Al-Hadrami

E-ISSN: 2415-1513

Volume 14, 2023

 SCL pin of the LCD-I2C is connected to the A5

of the Arduino

 PZEM module Rx is connected to the pin 3 TX

of the Arduino.

 PZEM module Tx is connected to the pin 2 RX

of the Arduino.

 PZEM module GND connected to the GND of

the Arduino.

 PZEM module 5V is connected to the pin 5V of

the Arduino.

 PZEM module input pin 1 and 2 is connected to

supply main Phase and Neutral

 PZEM module input pin 3 and 4 is connected to

the CT coil terminal Phase and Neutral

 Neutral of the supply line is looped through the

CT to the input terminal (Neutral) of the Digital

Power analyzer.

 The phase of the supply line is directly

connected to the input terminal (Phase) of the

terminal of the Digital power analyzer.

 The Load is connected across the output of the

Digital power analyzer.

 The Arduino is connected to the laptop through

a USB wire.

 Node MCU GND connected to the GND of the

Arduino.

 Node MCU 3.3V is connected to the pin 3.3V

of the Arduino.

 Node MCU RX is connected to the pin 6 of the

Arduino.

 Node MCU TX is connected to pin 5 of the

Arduino

Fig. 3: Hardware connection

5 Result and Discussion

Figure 4 shows the 100-watt lamp load setup. The

voltage, current, frequency, power, energy, and

power factor parameters are measured by

connecting the different practical loads. All the

loads were tested instantly and no specific time was

fixed to measure the parameters. The PZEM sensor

measures the voltage and current when the load is

connected. The Arduino receives a signal, and the

LCDs measure parameters. The measured electrical

parameters are sent to the cloud server using the

Thing-speak platform. The parameters are accessed

by the laptop and mobile device through the web

browser. The load current, power, energy, and

power factor are observed to vary according to the

load patterns.

Fig. 4: 100 Watts Lamp Load experimental setup

Depending on the time and load power, the

energy varies. According to the input level, the

supply voltage and frequency are both kept constant.

The sample reading of the 100Watts lamp load

measured parameters of the power analyzer, LCD,

and Thingspeak output is shown in Figure 5, Figure

6a and Figure 6b The real-time measured data by

the power analyzer is cross-checked with the PZEM

sensor measured data. The error values of the

voltage and current are calculated by using the error

calculation formula (1).

𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = Meter reading−PZEM Sensor Reading

Meter reading X 100

(1), [17].

Fig. 5: Power analyzer and LCD readings for the

100–watt Lamp load

The calculated % error for the voltage and

current values are tabulated in Table 1. A smaller

WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ELECTRONICS

DOI: 10.37394/232017.2023.14.6

Loganathan Nachimuthu,

Reem Ahmed Al-Mahrouqi,

Tamadhar Salim Al-Abri, Muna Al-Hadrami

E-ISSN: 2415-1513

Volume 14, 2023

percentage of errors is observed as compared with

the real-time measured by using a digital power

analyzer meter against sensor-measured data.

Table 1. 100 Watts Lamp Error calculation

Error

Meter

254

0.44

116

0.00006

-0.27

PZEM

Sensor

255

0.44

112.6

0.5

Fig. 6a: Thingspeak output

Fig. 6b: Thingspeak output

6 Conclusion

The proposed “IOT Based Energy Monitoring for

Practical Loads Using NodeMcu " project was

successfully created and tested. The experimental

results of the energy monitoring system with

different load parameters are measured and data is

transmitted to the server through the Thing-speak

platform. Through the online browser, the real-time

measured data is viewed by laptop graphically. This

method is a straightforward, low-cost circuit that

allows for the simultaneous measurement of many

WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ELECTRONICS

DOI: 10.37394/232017.2023.14.6

Loganathan Nachimuthu,

Reem Ahmed Al-Mahrouqi,

Tamadhar Salim Al-Abri, Muna Al-Hadrami

E-ISSN: 2415-1513

Volume 14, 2023

electrical characteristics and significantly eliminates

the need for additional meters. It reduces the costs

associated with installing various meters. The error

calculation was also made and compared with the

real-time measured parameters by using the power

analyzer.

In the future, the system can be more compact

and user-friendly and it would allow users to

monitor their homes for theft prevention as a smart

house.

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WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ELECTRONICS

DOI: 10.37394/232017.2023.14.6

Loganathan Nachimuthu,

Reem Ahmed Al-Mahrouqi,

Tamadhar Salim Al-Abri, Muna Al-Hadrami

E-ISSN: 2415-1513

Volume 14, 2023

Contribution of Individual Authors to the

Creation of a Scientific Article (Ghostwriting

Policy)

The authors equally contributed in the present

research, at all stages from the formulation of the

problem to the final findings and solution.

Sources of Funding for Research Presented in a

Scientific Article or Scientific Article Itself

No funding was received for conducting this study.

Conflict of Interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

(Attribution 4.0 International, CC BY 4.0)

This article is published under the terms of the

Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en

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WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ELECTRONICS

DOI: 10.37394/232017.2023.14.6

Loganathan Nachimuthu,

Reem Ahmed Al-Mahrouqi,

Tamadhar Salim Al-Abri, Muna Al-Hadrami

E-ISSN: 2415-1513

Volume 14, 2023