Development and implementation of a PQ analyser to monitoring public lighting installations with a LoRa wireless system

Abstract

In smart cities, public lighting installations have a significant consumption of electrical energy. In order to measure this consumption, it is necessary to install sensors capable of obtaining electrical parameters in real time. In this way, the installations are monitored and energy saving and efficiency measures can be implemented. In this sense, this research has developed a PQ analyser meter with Long Range wireless communications technology (LoRa). This technology allows coverage of up to 5 km, which makes it ideal for public lighting applications. PQ Analyser with LoRa (PQAL) has been developed to achieve a fully functional prototype. PQAL comes in two versions for single-phase and three-phase street lighting lines, so that it adapts to any type of installation. PQAL uses the open-source Arduino platform which allows it to adapt to the monitoring needs of every installation. PQAL can monitor installations up to 100 A and 23 kW per phase. The use of non-invasive current sensors allows this device to be installed without modifying the installation to be monitored. Due to the long range of the LoRa network, it can be installed in locations far from the gateway without the need for additional cabling or Internet connection.