An Optimized and Cost Effective Power Management System for End-users of Electricity

This paper presents a novel technique of Optimized and Cost Effective Power Management System (OCEPMS) for end users of electricity. The technique incorporates all the three important aspects of a power management system and gives a complete microcontroller based low cost solution. These aspects include: power factor improvement, voltage optimization and surge / spike suppression. For power factor improvement, an algorithm is devised which automatically switches capacitors based on real time calculated requirements. A soft switching mechanism is used for the purpose of bringing capacitors in or out of the circuit depending upon the overall inductive load. For voltage optimization purpose, a circuitry is included in the design which manages incoming voltage and regulates it to a level more suitable for home appliances. Furthermore, to protect the system from dangerous and harmful surges and spikes transmitted through supply line, a surge suppression circuitry is also incorporated in the design. The proposed design is physically developed and experimentally tested with various domestic loads like compact florescent lamps, chokes, pumps and a combination of induction motors. Experimental results validate proposed approach and show that, up to 15% reduction in domestic electricity bills can be achieved by using the developed power management system