I-Corps: Circuit-Level Electricity Meters

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is focused on the substantial opportunity to utilize circuit-level electricity usage data to identify equipment faults, allocate energy costs, and increase operating efficiency in the residential and commercial building sectors. By monitoring electricity at the circuit level, it is possible to detect when equipment is about to malfunction. By sub-metering electricity in multi-tenant facilities, it is possible to fairly charge each occupant. By auditing energy use and benchmarking against other buildings, it is possible to identify investment opportunities that increase operating efficiency or equipment inefficiencies. All of these benefits, as well as many others, stem from greater visibility into electricity usage. This I-Corps project concerns a new type of electricity sub-meter that dramatically reduces installation cost and complexity, the main impediments to greater adoption of the technology. These results are possible today because of substantial prior research into ultra-low power energy-harvesting circuits. These circuits enable self-powered sensor operation, clip-on installation that reduces installation cost and eliminates the need for electrical shutdowns, new calibration methods that can jointly calibrate the sensors and front-end electronics for better overall accuracy and lower cost, and a novel method of non-contact voltage sensing that allows true power measurement without high installation cost and safety risks of conventional voltage sensors. When the data that these new types of electricity sub-meters generate are analyzed and processed by algorithms, it is possible to identify equipment faults, allocate energy costs, detect inefficient operations, and reduce high grid demand. This solution addresses key accuracy, cost, and deployment challenges, filling an important gap in the electricity sub-metering industry.