You are browsing as a guest. Sign up (or log in) to start making projects!

Microgrid Home Energy Monitor

Hardware
  • 6 Devlogs
  • 5 Total hours

In February 2021, over 4.5 million Texas homes lost power in freezing temperatures during a power grid failure. I was one of them, the winter was hard with all hotels being booked as people scrambled to get heat. It was a very hard winter with our apartment getting to around 60 degrees Fahrenheit. I wanted to understand why the grid failure happened and came to the conclusion, The problem was that grid operators had almost no real-time view into household consumption of power. They didn't have the data to see the demand of power was changing minute by minute as more people in homes turned on their heaters to warm their homes. I want to understand how power is measured, how the grid sees demand so I will try to build a custom PCB that clips non-invasive current transformer sensors around wires and measure real-time power usage I would like it to measure Watts. Apparent power (VA) and Power factor.

Open comments for this post

17m 50s logged

The enclosure is DONE! Big thanks to my friend for helping me make this!! with this the project is done! There is a lot of empty space because the AMS1117 tends to heat up so we decided to have a lot of vents. the holes to the side is the headphone jacks and the the usbs! the top has the buttons, leds, and the OLED connections.

The enclosure is DONE! Big thanks to my friend for helping me make this!! with this the project is done! There is a lot of empty space because the AMS1117 tends to heat up so we decided to have a lot of vents. the holes to the side is the headphone jacks and the the usbs! the top has the buttons, leds, and the OLED connections.

Replying to @Dishman

0
4
Open comments for this post

23m 25s logged

I have just finished the code for the HTML!! I’m not going to lie it was very confusing but I think it works!(UPDATE it does work :D)

I have just finished the code for the HTML!! I’m not going to lie it was very confusing but I think it works!(UPDATE it does work :D)

Replying to @Dishman

0
1
Open comments for this post

1h 18m 2s logged

I have started working on the code of the esp32 :D. I just got the backbone done. I had some struggles with understanding how Emonlib worked and I messed up code while working on it(shoutout to AI for helping me when I messed up and helping me understand Emonlib)

I have started working on the code of the esp32 :D. I just got the backbone done. I had some struggles with understanding how Emonlib worked and I messed up code while working on it(shoutout to AI for helping me when I messed up and helping me understand Emonlib)

Replying to @Dishman

0
2
Open comments for this post

2h 44m 10s logged

I have just finished building the PCB, and it took a long time trying to figure out the routes that I should take. Although it looks very messy. I’m just glad with what I’ve done. if anyone has any suggestions let me know!

I have just finished building the PCB, and it took a long time trying to figure out the routes that I should take. Although it looks very messy. I’m just glad with what I’ve done. if anyone has any suggestions let me know!

Replying to @Dishman

0
1
Open comments for this post

16m 12s logged

Today I finished all the schematic fixes for my Microgrid Home Energy Monitor! Replaced the placeholder USB-C connector with a proper USB_C_Receptacle_USB2.0_16P and added CC1/CC2 pull-down resistors (5.1kΩ) so the board actually receives power
Added decoupling caps on the AMS1117 voltage regulator (10µF + 100nF on both input and output)
Added decoupling caps on the ESP32 VDD pin to prevent random resets during WiFi transmission
Added Boot and Reset buttons so I can flash firmware
Added I2C pull-up resistors for the OLED display
Added a 6-pin programming header for UART flashing
Added a connector for the ZMPT101B voltage sensor

I’m mostly searching up much of this online and relying on AI to help me wire and get diagrams if anyone has experience in KICAD pls let me know if this looks good and how I can improve thanks!

Today I finished all the schematic fixes for my Microgrid Home Energy Monitor! Replaced the placeholder USB-C connector with a proper USB_C_Receptacle_USB2.0_16P and added CC1/CC2 pull-down resistors (5.1kΩ) so the board actually receives power
Added decoupling caps on the AMS1117 voltage regulator (10µF + 100nF on both input and output)
Added decoupling caps on the ESP32 VDD pin to prevent random resets during WiFi transmission
Added Boot and Reset buttons so I can flash firmware
Added I2C pull-up resistors for the OLED display
Added a 6-pin programming header for UART flashing
Added a connector for the ZMPT101B voltage sensor

I’m mostly searching up much of this online and relying on AI to help me wire and get diagrams if anyone has experience in KICAD pls let me know if this looks good and how I can improve thanks!

Replying to @Dishman

0
1
Open comments for this post

18m 15s logged

I have started working on the KICAD PCB (I’m still learning and have not finished so I’m hoping what I’m doing is right and actually works :P). If anyone is good at KICAD and would like to comment on what I can do better pls let me know! I would to learn more! I will be finishing the KICAD by today hopefully so pls take a look in my 2nd devlog! ** update so my lapse just didn’t work (I got 1 hour 30 and it just didn’t take me to the editing page T-T) I will added the screenshot of the addition of the stuff I did! (I added it to my main page)

I have started working on the KICAD PCB (I’m still learning and have not finished so I’m hoping what I’m doing is right and actually works :P). If anyone is good at KICAD and would like to comment on what I can do better pls let me know! I would to learn more! I will be finishing the KICAD by today hopefully so pls take a look in my 2nd devlog! ** update so my lapse just didn’t work (I got 1 hour 30 and it just didn’t take me to the editing page T-T) I will added the screenshot of the addition of the stuff I did! (I added it to my main page)

Replying to @Dishman

0
2

Followers

Loading…