A Low-cost Smart Plug with Power Quality and Energy Analyzer Features

Energy efficiency is being considered an important aspect even for home users. In order to save energy and reduce costs, it is equally important to understand user habits regarding their energy usage and home appliances electrical characteristics. However, most of the smart home devices focus on automation and does not provide the necessary electrical data to better plan regarding energy efficiency. In contrast to on-the-shelf devices, this article presents a low-cost Smart Plug that embeds advanced energy metering features. Measured electrical parameters are easily available locally and remotely and provide full information about attached appliances. By “labeling” connected appliances and AC power characteristics, researchers and developers are able to develop load monitoring research that improve users knowledge about their energy usage. Thus, the developed Smart Plug becomes an essential tool for researchers to better understand appliances in a context of distributed generation and nonlinear loads, as well as provides end user information about energy usage while implements affordable home automation features.