International Conference on Computing and Control Engineering (ICCCE 2012), 12 & 13 April, 2012

MODERN ELECTRICITY BILLING SYSTEM USING GSM

Dr.T. Vigneswaran, M. Srikarthik and S. Altamash
AbstractThe billing process of electricity consumption which we are using at present is very long process and requires lot of man power. For overcoming all the difficulties present in this system we are introducing fully automated billing process. In the proposed system front end is user friendly and can be operated easily by having minimum computer knowledge. Two GSM modems are used one connected to electric meter and another connected to PC present in office of electricity board. The PC is the computer which consists of all database such as meter reading, bill amount, due amount, last date for bill payment.GSM modems consists of SIM cards possessing unique number. User interface consists of LCD which displays the power consumed and amount of bill to be paid. User also consists of a mobile phone through which bill details can be communicated to the consumer. Bill can be paid just by recharging through the mobile. Keywords---GSM, Microcontroller, Algorithm, intelligent metering. Embedded The importance of proposed work can be well understood if we keep in mind the amount of electricity being stolen every day. As a user can get his or her bill at any instant and can even pay it at any instant, so any kind of misuse by any other person can be avoided. The organization of the paper is as follows: In section 2, we discuss the proposed design that also presents module description for our proposed system. Detailed circuit analysis description is provided for each block used in this section. In section 3, we present the software implementation along with algorithm and flow diagram. In section 4, PCB designing, actual circuit implementation is shown. Finally, some conclusions are offered in section 5 II. PROPOSED WORK The old electromechanical induction meters are being replaced by more modern electronic instruments, which are more suitable for implementing modern tariff policies, such as different hourly tariffs. In the proposed work, the micro controller & the GSM unit is interfaced with the Energy meter of each house. Every house has a separate number, which is given by the corresponding authority. One GSM modem is present at the consumer side and another at electricity board office. A. Isolation and Relay Circuit The microcontroller provides the power of only 5V, whereas the voltage required to operate the valve is 12V. So to solve this problem we use an isolation and relay circuit. The power to operate the valve is derived from the power supply module and then the signal is derived from the microcontroller as shown in Figure. As in the figure isolation and relay circuit consists of a valve which is connected to collector transistor for which emitter is given a 120V DC supply base of the transistor is connected to collector of another transistor U4 through a 470 ohm resistance.

I. INTRODUCTION From many years, the electric power systems had undergone negligible changes in their operating conditions and the equipment employed for their control and monitoring. Many attempts have been made to design the energy meter with instant billing but till now the designed energy meters did not give any replacement for the system where the user has to connect the recharge card to recharging unit, and then the units will be loaded into recharge card. In this proposed work we are implementing a prepaid electricity meter connected to electricity office interface through GSM network. When we use the electricity the amount which we had used is calculated by energy meter at user interface. This information is passed to microcontroller. Here we use 8051 microcontroller programmed with embedded C language. This controller decodes the information given by the electric meter and transmits the information to LCD module and GSM modem.GSM modem consists of a SIM card possessing unique number that transmits the information to electricity board which again consists of a GSM modem connected to a PC. The information from the modem is decoded and data base in the PC is updated. This updated information is sent to user mobile. Now by just recharging this mobile the bill amount can be settled. A conformation message is sent to mobile about the bill settlement .The whole process is done automatically without any manual involvement hence the probability of occurrence of error is negligible.

Dr.T. Vigneswaran, SG, SRM University. M. Srikarthik, UG, SRM University. S. Altamash, UG, SRM University

B. Interfacing with the GSM Module GSM introduction Global system for mobile communication is globally accepted standard for digital cellular communication.GSM is the name of standardization group established in 1982 to create a common European mobile telephone standard that

ISBN 978-1-4675-2248-9 2012 Published by Coimbatore Institute of Information Technology

International Conference on Computing and Control Engineering (ICCCE 2012), 12 & 13 April, 2012

would formulate specifications for a pan_Europeon mobile cellular radio system operating at 900MHz Interfacing GSM module The microcontroller output is not compatible with the GSM module. To make it compatible we require the DB9 Connector and the MAX 232 connector. This will enable the microcontroller to send a message to a predefined phone number. Here MAX232 acts as driver which converts TTL levels to RS232 levels. For serial interference GSM modem requires the signal based on RS232 levels. The T1_OUT and R1_IN pin of MAX232 is connected to the TX and RX pin of GSM modem. C.LCD Interface with Microcontroller Introduction An HD44780 Character LCD is an industry standard liquid crystal display (LCD) display device designed for interfacing with embedded electronics. These screens come in common configurations of 8x1 characters, 16x2, and 20x4 among others. The largest such configuration is 40x4 characters, but these are rare and are actually two separate 20x4 screens seamlessly joined together. The most commonly used LCDs found in the market today are 1 Line, 2 Line or 4 Line LCDs which have only one controller and support at most 80 characters, whereas LCDs supporting more than 80 characters make use of 2 HD44780 controllers. Apart from displaying some simple static characters you can create animated text scripts and a lot more! LCD in proposed system The system also consists of a display system having a LED and an alarm system. When the meter is working LED glows when GSM module sends the message. The buzzer will also buzz indicating the message is sent or received. LCD module has 8-bit data interface and control pins as shown in Figure 3. One can send data as 8-bit or in pair of two 4-bit nibbles. To display any character on LCD micro controller has to send its ASCII value to the data bus of LCD. For e.g. to display 'AB' microcontroller has to send two hex bytes 41h and 42h respectively. LCD display used here is having 16x2 sizes. It means 2 lines each with 16 characters. In our proposed system we can find power usage instantaneously through the readings of this LCD.As we are using prepaid system this very useful to know when to recharge and how many units still left for usage. D. Embedded Processor In the proposed work, the power consumption circuit and GSM module are interfaced through the ports of standard microcontroller AT89C52. The AT89C52 is a low power, high performance CMOS 8-bit microcomputer with 8K bytes of Flash programmable and erasable read only memory (PEROM). The device is manufactured using Atmels high density non -volatile memory technology and is compatible with the industry-standard 80C51 and 80C52 instruction set and pin-out. The processor Flash allows the program memory to be reprogrammed in-system or by a conventional non-volatile memory programmer. By combining a versatile 8-bit CPU with Flash on a monolithic

chip and Atmel AT89C52 is a powerful microcomputer which provides a highly-flexible and low cost solution to many embedded control applications. The AT89C52 provides the following standard features: 8K bytes of Flash, 256 bytes of RAM, 32 I/O lines, three 16-bit timer/counter, a six-vector two-level interrupt architecture, full-duplex serial port, on-chip oscillator and clock circuitry. The extension of ports can be done by using 8255 standard PPI. Here we programme 8051 microcontroller with embedded C language .This 8051 module is interfaced with GSM modem, LCD module, EB meter, load e. t. c. As already mentioned the billing system is an prepaid system. When power is being consumed the readings got noted by EB meter and displayed by LCD. When maximum consumption is reached and there is a need of recharge it is displayed by LCD and information is passed to the microcontroller. The controller is programmed in such a way that it sends the information to consumer module which is nothing but a cell phone .If consumer did not recharge within specified time then a message is sent from GSM modem connected to PC at electricity office to GSM modem connected to microcontroller which automatically disconnects the power supply to that particular consumer. When consumer recharges his/her balance then again message is sent from electricity board to controller that connection is reestablished. Hence the process is fully automatic. Home section

User section

MOBILE PHONE

EB section Above block diagrams gives clear view of methodology in which the proposed system works. The working process is clearly explained in above paragraph. The PC in EB section is programmed with .NET and this PC contains all the database of consumers. E. MAX 232 (Communication Interface) RS-232 was created for one purpose, to Interface between Data Terminal Equipment (DTE) and Data Communications

ISBN 978-1-4675-2248-9 2012 Published by Coimbatore Institute of Information Technology

International Conference on Computing and Control Engineering (ICCCE 2012), 12 & 13 April, 2012

Equipment (DCE) employing serial binary data interchange. So as stated the DTE is the terminal or computer and the DCE is the modem or other communications device. RS 232 is the most widely used serial I/O interfacing standard. In RS 232, a 1 is represented by -3 to -25 v. while a 0 bit is +3 to + 25 v, making -3 to +3 undefined. For this reason, to connect any RS 232 to a microcontroller system we must use voltage converters such as MAX 232 to convert the TTL logic levels to the RS 232. voltage level, and vice versa. This chip is used when interfacing micro controller with PC to check the Baud rate and changes the voltage level because micro controller is TTL compatible whereas PC is CMOS compatible. Operating circuit of MAX232

from the collapsing magnetic field at deactivation, which would otherwise generate a voltage spike dangerous to circuit components. Some automotive relays already include that diode inside the relay case. Alternatively a contact protection network, consisting of a capacitor and resistor in series, may absorb the surge. If the coil is designed to be energized with AC, a small copper ring can be crimped to the end of the solenoid. This "shading ring" creates a small out-of-phase current, which increases the minimum pull on the armature during the AC cycle By analogy with the functions of the original electromagnetic device, a solid-state relay is made with a thruster or other solid-state switching device. To achieve electrical isolation an opt coupler can be used which is a light-emitting diode (LED) coupled with a photo transistor. III. SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTATION The microcontroller IC AT89C52 is programmed using Embedded C language. Steps for software implementation is given below 1. Initially serial data rate is set to 9600 2. LCD and GSM modules are initialized 3. Accuracy of GSM modem is tested 4. SMS sent by the user is read 5. Validity of the number is checked 6. As soon as SMS is received an indication for reception is given 7. SMS is received in cell phone indicating that we should make recharge as available balance is very less. 8. Space is made available for new data that is to be received by clearing the old data Algorithm Step1.Connect GSM module to electric meter Step2.Intiate baud rate and set it to 9600. Step3.LCD display and GSM module are initialized Step4.User punches his/her number for connecting to his/her energy meter Step5.The number is then validated Step6.Bill is displayed by LCD which is interfaced with GSM modem Step7.Delay of 200 seconds is set and result is displayed for that time Step8.Bill is sent to users cell phone and LCD displays the received message Step9.Buzzer attached in the device buzzes indicating that message has been sent successfully Step10.The user on receiving the message recharges through his/her phone Step11.Stop

F. .Relay circuit Introduction Relay is an electrical switch that opens and closes under the control of another electrical circuit. In the original form, the switch is operated by an electromagnet to open or close one or many sets of contacts. It was invented by Joseph Henry in 1835. Because a relay is able to control an output circuit of higher power than the input circuit, it can be considered to be, in a broad sense, a form of an electrical amplifier. Working When an electric current is passed through the coil, the resulting magnetic field attracts the armature and the consequent movement of the movable contact or contacts either makes or breaks a connection with a fixed contact. If the set of contacts was closed when the relay was deenergized, then the movement opens the contacts and breaks the connection, and vice versa if the contacts were open. When the current to the coil is switched off, the armature is returned by a force, approximately half as strong as the magnetic force, to its relaxed position. Usually this force is provided by a spring, but gravity is also used commonly in industrial motor starters. Most relays are manufactured to operate quickly. In a low voltage application, this is to reduce noise. In a high voltage or high current application, this is to reduce arcing. If the coil is energized with DC, a diode is frequently installed across the coil, to dissipate the energy

ISBN 978-1-4675-2248-9 2012 Published by Coimbatore Institute of Information Technology

International Conference on Computing and Control Engineering (ICCCE 2012), 12 & 13 April, 2012

Proposed system is highly effective in penalising man work and making the system fully automatic. Hence the probability of error is negligible. Using wireless communication is very big boon which enables instant billing. In future this system can be utilised throughout the world as communication is done by GSM which is a universal standard REFERENCES
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Tarek Khalifa, Kshirasagar Naik and Amiya Nayak Prototype Development of Single Phase Prepaid kWh Meter presented at 2011 International Conference on Electrical Engineering and Informatics 17-19 July 2011, Bandung, Indonesia ury, J. Miller, W., Smart Prepaid Energy Meter Implementation, Power Delivery, IEEE Transactions on, Jan 2002, pp. 1-5, The 8051 microcontroller and embedded systems by Muhammad Ali Mazidi, Publisher: Prentice Hall. Alessandro Ferrero, Marco Faifer, and Simona Salicone On Testing the Electronic Revenue Energy Meters,presented at IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT, VOL. 58, NO. 9, SEPTEMBER 2009 Tarek Khalifa, Kshirasagar Naik and Amiya Nayak A Survey of Communication Protocols for Automatic Meter Reading Applications ,at IEEE COMMUNICATIONS SURVEYS & TUTORIALS, VOL. 13, NO. 2, SECOND QUARTER 2011

IV. HARDWARE MODULE

[6]

V. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE HOPES

ISBN 978-1-4675-2248-9 2012 Published by Coimbatore Institute of Information Technology