Design and Construction of a Smart Meter for DC Energy Trading in Rural Environments

The design and construction of a bi-directional DC smart meter that facilitates peer to peer trading of electricity among prosumers is presented. The system is intended to be used to monitor the net energy transferred between two points (rural prosumer households). The direction and the quantum of the net energy transferred must be determined. The accuracy of the smart meter is tested using an experimental calorimetric test where a resistive load is used to heat up water and the energy dissipated by the resistor is calculated and compared to the smart meter's result. The built prototype demonstrated the success of the concept but requires further refinement and industrialisation.