Channels, Fall 2016

Channels • 2016 • Volume 1 • Number 1 Page 101 Cedarville University Senior Project: Building an AC Power Monitoring System Jared L. Newman, Luke M. Tomlinson, Grayson H. Dearing, Frederick G. Harmon Engineering and Computer Science — Cedarville University Introduction and Background o consumer and commercial users alike, electricity usage is often only understood as a dollar amount to be paid each month. However, as the world becomes increasingly connected, users often desire to have a more detailed understanding of how they consume energy. On Cedarville University’s campus, breaking down exactly how energy is being used can be difficult. For our project, we’ve chosen to address this problem by providing a solution to monitor individual circuits in a breaker box. This will be a helpful step because users will have better access to knowing how much energy they consume. We are working with Jeff Cunningham, the Utilities coordinator at Cedarville, to prove that we can provide a custom and inexpensive solution to this problem. We are using the Chemistry building as the testing ground for our project. Our product is not an entirely new idea. There are commercially available systems made by companies like Neurio and Veris Industries that accomplish this goal. However, these systems can be quite expensive, and they only have the ability to monitor two to three circuits at a time. We have made a solution that costs less while providing expanded functionality. The basic system we are developing will monitor every circuit within a single breaker box and then display collected data on a cellular application. To accomplish this task, we will be taking advantage of a few different pieces of technology, such as Current Transformers, PIC Microcontrollers, and a Raspberry Pi. All of these pieces will come together to create a fully functional system. After our basic system is installed, we hope to encourage other senior design teams to further develop this product. Eventually this energy monitor could be expanded to include larger loads, such as HVAC systems and refrigeration units. We also envision that future projects might be able to provide the user with energy behavior suggestions that will improve efficiency. Automation and failure prediction could also stem from this initial project. Thus, our main goal is to prove that the concept is feasible, expandable, and cost- effective. T