Browsing by Author "Omary, Shaban"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Performance Evaluation LoRa-GPRS Integrated Electricity usage Monitoring System for Decentralized Mini-Grids
(Science and Information (SAI) Organization Limited, 2020) Omary, Shaban; Sam, Anael
The emerging Internet of Things (IoT) technologiesNsuch as Long-Range (LoRa), combined with traditional cellular communications technologies such as General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) offers decentralized mini-grid companies the opportunity to have cost-effective monitoring systems for the mini-grid resources. Nevertheless, most of the existing decentralized mini-grid companies still rely on traditional cellular networks to fully monitor electricity consumption information, which is not a feasible solution especially for the resource-constrained mini-grid systems. This paper presents the performance evaluation of the proposed LoRa-GPRS integrated power consumption monitoring system for decentralized mini- grid centers. Each mini-grid center consists of a network of custom designed smart meters equipped with LoRa modules for local data collection, while the GPRS gateway is used to transmit collected data from the local monitoring centre to the cloud server. Performance testing was conducted by using five electrical appliances whose power consumption data form the cloud server was compared to the same data collected by using a reference digital meter. The correlation between the two data sets was used as a key performance metric of the proposed system. The performance results show that the proposed system has a good accuracy hence providing a cost-effective framework for monitoring and managing of power resources in decentralized mini-grid centers.
A two-way electricity usage monitoring system for decentralised solar mini-grids in Tanzania
(NM-AIST, 2020-03) Omary, Shaban
Decentralised solar mini-grids have been identified as a cost-effective solution towards having sustainable electrification efforts in Tanzania, particularly to areas out of the government’s immediate plans for national grid extension. Nonetheless, access to information on power consumption to both mini-grid companies and consumers has been a challenge for most of the current decentralised solar mini-grid systems. Several studies, mostly carried out outside Africa, have attempted to address the problem, however, due to the technology used, features and economic implications, the proposed solutions do not suit the local market. With the rapid penetration of information and communication technologies services in Tanzania, access to and the use of the internet is becoming increasingly affordable for the majority of communities. This study therefore aimed at improving consumer and utility companies' access to electricity consumption information in decentralised solar mini-grids in Tanzania. This was achieved by developing a two-way electricity usage monitoring system that enhances consumers awareness towards economic utilisation of the available electrical power resources. The proposed system uses Long Range technology to create a private Low Power Wide Area Network around the mini-grid centre while General Packet Radio Service network is used to transmit power consumption data from the mini-grid centre to the cloud server. The proposed system can help consumers to have informed-usage of electrical power and thus adjust their consumption behaviour to save unnecessary costs. The system also offers a cost-effective solution for the mini-grid companies to track the demand and supply status of the available power resources. The system also acts as a linkage between mini-grid companies and consumers which improves customer experience. Moreover, this study contributes to the existing literature by proposing an improved method to enhance equal access to the information regarding power consumption between utilities and consumers by using Long Range as a private wide area network for the mini-grid centres.
Web-Based Two-Way Electricity Monitoring System for Remote Solar Mini-Grids
(Modern Education and Computer Science Press, 2019-11-08) Omary, Shaban; Sam, Anael E.
Electricity usage monitoring systems play a vital role towards raising energy utilization awareness for consumers. Existing solar mini-grid infrastructure, however, lacks a user-friendly two-way platform to allow consumers to access information about electricity consumption. This paper proposes a cloud-based, two-way energy usage monitoring system that will allow both utility companies and consumers to access energy consumption data in a user-friendly way through a web platform. The system requirements were collected via questionnaires, interviews, and observations conducted at two solar mini-grids centres located at Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions in Tanzania. The system uses a Low Power Area Network (LPWAN) and the existing GPRS network to monitor electricity consumption data between smart meter units and the cloud server. Also, a virtual bill payment module and usage status feedback functionality have been integrated into the system to increase awareness of the cost-effective use of electricity and hence, achieve the sustainability of solar mini-grids. By using both white-box and black-box system testing approaches, findings show that the system will not only raise awareness among customers about the economical usage of electricity, but it can also be used by mini-grid companies as a source of data to determine current and future energy demands to minimize large investment costs.