Smart Energy Meter with Real-Time Cloud Dashboard
✓ Deployed in 3 student labs · 40% energy savings reported · Custom PCB design
A complete IoT energy monitoring system — from custom PCB design to cloud dashboard — built to give engineering college labs real-time visibility into their power consumption and the ability to act on it.
Voltage, current, power factor, and energy consumption are measured at the mains level, streamed to AWS IoT Core, and displayed live on a mobile-friendly dashboard. Automated alerts fire when consumption crosses thresholds.
The Problem
Engineering labs run high-power equipment — oscilloscopes, soldering stations, 3D printers — often left on overnight. Without visibility into consumption, labs have no way to identify waste or enforce policies. Commercial energy monitors start at ₹15,000 and don't integrate with institutional systems.
The Solution
A custom 4-layer PCB housing an ESP32, CT sensors (for non-invasive current measurement), a voltage divider circuit, and a 4G SIM800 fallback module. The device clamps onto the mains cable — no rewiring required.
- PZEM-004T energy measurement IC: voltage, current, power, frequency, power factor
- MQTT over TLS to AWS IoT Core — 1-second telemetry updates
- AWS Lambda + DynamoDB pipeline for data storage and aggregation
- Grafana dashboard for live monitoring and historical trend analysis
- WhatsApp alerts via Twilio when daily consumption exceeds configured limit
- OTA firmware update support — push updates without physical access
Architecture
Tech Stack
Outcome
Within 6 weeks of deployment, the labs reported a 40% reduction in electricity consumption — driven by awareness alone. Faculty could now see which equipment was drawing power overnight and act on it. One lab reduced its monthly electricity bill by ₹4,200.
The system has been running maintenance-free for over 8 months. The OTA update system has been used twice to push new alert thresholds without a site visit.
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