Alternating Current System Advantages And Disadvantages

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1. Introduction An electricity meter is a device which measures the amount of energy consumed by all electrically powered devices in a building. They are usually installed in the building itself and they stand between the main power lines and the electric devices. Electric utilities use electricity meters installed at client’s premises to measure their power consumption for billing purposes. They are typically calibrated in billing units and they are usually read once each billing period. 1.1 Present electric power distribution In Mauritius, there is only one electric utility which is known as the Central Electricity Board (CEB).It generates and distributes electricity to the country. Alternating Current (AC) is provided at voltage of 230V…show more content…
• An intrusion in the power distribution cannot be easily be detected, resulting in energy being stolen. When adding all these drawbacks, we can realise that CEB is losing money and the business is not as efficient as it should be. The customer is also losing money and the much more important point is that we are in a situation where we should conserve energy due to reasons such as global warming and the current is not helping to achieve that. Even if the customer decides to control his energy consumption, the amount of time that he will have to invest and the lack of feedback from the meter will make refrain him from doing so. 1.2 Smart metering Smart metering is made up of two devices, the smart meter and a monitoring unit. The smart meter is a digital device made up of electronic components which measures energy consumption and provide a two-way communication from the meter to the utility company. The monitoring unit is a device which will be connected to the smart meter and it will give feedback to the…show more content…
• Black-outs and system failures will be easily detected. • Customers will have detailed feedback and it will help them to adjust their habits to lower electric bills. 2. Technical Feasibility Study The new power network will consist of smart meters in buildings and a data centre located at the head office of the CEB. There are different options of how the communication can be established and they are: 2.1 Option 1:Power-line communication (PLC) Power-line communication is a two way type of communication in which data is carried on a conductor that is also used simultaneously for AC electric power transmission to consumers. The smart meter will be connected to the transformer and as PLC cannot transmit over long distances, the data will have to be sent in a sub-data centre located in the same city. The sub-data centre will be connected to the main data centre by internet. Data will be then stored and processed at the main data centre. Advantages of using PLC: • No new installation is required as the existing power lines will be used as the transmission

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