Swansea: University team unveils Smart Electricity Meter

Licensing opportunity

The Power Electronics team from Swansea University’s School of Engineering has set up a prototype of its Smart Meter, which allows people to measure the consumption and generation of electricity.

The demonstration Smart Meter is connected to solar panels on the roof of the university’s engineering building, and the team is now supplying some 1.5 MWh of “green electricity” to the university every year. The researchers plan to create a fully functional prototype and begin residential trials within the next 18 months.

The Smart Meter is designed for users with no expertise in power electronics. It has been designed to allow “plug and play” use for measuring the power generated from micro-renewable technologies.

The unit also monitors energy consumption, and can present this information both as a traditional power reading and as animated graphics of the equivalent amount of money on the screen. The meter measures individual power circuits in the home and the researchers believe there is potential to adapt the technology to monitor energy usage of individual appliances.

With the technology, consumers and suppliers would be able to get instant information on energy generation and consumption via web pages, wireless in-home displays, and potentially even a TV channel.

Dr Petar Igic, who is leading the Energy and Power Electronics research within the university’s School of Engineering, said: “The project is one of a number of Welsh Assembly Government Knowledge Exploitation Fund research projects being undertaken in Wales and facilitated by the Welsh Energy Research Centre to ensure Wales is at the forefront of current energy technologies.

“Smart Electricity Metering is a key part of the Energy Efficiency research theme, since making more efficient and more responsible use of the electric power generated is as important as finding renewable energy sources.”