2013 1st IEEE Conference on Technologies for Sustainability (SusTech)

Low-Cost Cloud-Based Design of Smart Rural Energy

Device in Microgrid: Perspective India
An Energy-On-Demand Service for Rural India
Mukundhan Srinivasan

Ramesh Rajesh

Research Assistant
Department of Electrical Engineering
Indian Institute of Science (IISc)
Bangalore, India
mukundhan@ieee.org

Research Assistant
Department of Research
Solarillion Foundation
Chennai, India
rajeshramesh90@ieee.org

Sabarigirish Vijaykumar

Vineeth Vijayaraghavan

Assistant Systems Engineer-Trainee

Retail Domain
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
Chennai, India
sabarigirish.v@ieee.org

Director
Department of Research
Solarillion Foundation
Chennai, India
vineethv@ieee.org
Yet another challenge is energy access to a large population
in rural India, Asia Latin America and Africa. As many as four
hundred million citizens in rural India are deprived of access to
energy [1]. As these regions have inadequate energy
infrastructure, electrification of households is almost
impossible. These parts of the world require immediate
attention to find solutions to sustain and meet their energy
requirements. These under-serviced areas need to equip
themselves to meet demand by switching to alternate renewable and sustainable technologies; The Ministry of New
and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India, could
facilitate this switch through policy. As much as 41.4 GW of
power from renewables has been proposed under this policy
[2]. Of this, 20 GW has been committed from the solar sector
alone by the year 2022 [3].

Abstract In this paper we present a combination of technologies

to provide an Energy-on-Demand (EoD) service to enable low
cost innovation suitable for microgrid networks. The system is
designed around the low cost and simple Rural Energy Device
(RED) Box which in combination with Short Message Service
(SMS) communication methodology serves as an elementary
proxy for Smart meters which are typically used in urban
settings. Further, customer behavior and familiarity in using
such devices based on mobile experience has been incorporated
into the design philosophy. Customers are incentivized to interact
with the system thus providing valuable behavioral and usage
data to the Utility Service Provider (USP). Data that is collected
over time can be used by the USP for analytics envisioned by
using remote computing services known as cloud computing
service. Cloud computing allows for a sharing of computational
resources at the virtual level across several networks. The
customer-system interaction is facilitated by a third party
Telecom Service provider (TSP). The approximate cost of the
RED Box is envisaged to be under USD 10 on production scale.

The advances in technology, distributed generation and

declining cost of solar energy generation provides a unique
opportunity to address this challenge using low cost, market
driven, sustainable and scalable technology in parts of the
world like rural India where energy access continues to be a
dream.

Keywords Cloud Computing, Cost benefit, Customer Service,

Electrifying Rural Areas, Load Optimization, Telecom Services,
Sustainable development, Utility Services.

In this paper, we propose an Energy-on-Demand (EoD)

scheme to service these customers who reside in the farthest of
locations. By this scheme, we monitor consumption, increase
productivity and provide valuable feedback to the utility
operator on consumer behavior which has so far been unknown
and unavailable.

I.
INTRODUCTION
ver the last century, the world has witnessed rapid
industrialization and development with progress in
conventional electricity generation, transmission
and distribution. The progress made in electrical power
infrastructure has spurred subsequent developments in
industrial, manufacturing and telecom infrastructure. With
increasing recognition of climate change and the harmful
effects of greenhouse gases, renewable energy (both utility
scale wind and solar farms and off-grid distributed generation)
has been gaining prominence.

In this paper, we describe a Rural Energy Device (RED)

Box which is standalone equipment used to supply power to a
subscribing customer. The customer is employed as the link
between the backend process and the RED Box. Intelligence
gathering is done in the data collected during the operation of
the system which provides greater insights into demand
prediction. The cloud services provided by the USP adds

This research work was sponsored by Panchabuta (PB/13/AR/1).

978-1-4673-4630-6/13/$31.00 2013 IEEE

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2013 1st IEEE Conference on Technologies for Sustainability (SusTech)

Figure 1. Schematic of the proposed system

remarkable value to the proposed system as vast amount of

analytics and prediction is now possible. Load optimization,
load management and load prediction can be performed on a
more scaled version of the system. The Utility Service Provider
(USP) has daily-updated statistics of consumption and the
surplus power is provided on an offer basis to the subscriber.
The extra power generated is used to run the local amenities
instead of storing or diverting them to the grid as since storage
followed by transmission account for 27.15% of losses [4].
This proposed scheme along with the offers and incentives
cater to the customers' daily energy needs.

The solution should operate with any microgrid/ utility

setup including those that rural communities establish, it is
imperative that the design be open-source, low cost, easy-toinstall, maintain and operate. Further to this, the components so
used should be readily available so as to enable easy and
commercial mass manufacturing where costs can be brought
down to under USD 10.
This paper intends to provide a reference implementable
framework for the rural microgrid market in line with the
vision of low cost smart meters as envisioned by the Indian
Smart Grid Forum (ISGF) [7].

We believe such developments are surely forward looking

and shall definitely improve the standards of living from a
humanitarian ground.
II.

III.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

In India, many villages are in remote location where

currently kerosene lamps are being used during the night as a
source of energy. The resulting smoke causes number of
chronic illness like asthma and accidental fire has led to fatal
causalities and in some cases even death. Challenges remain in
taking the distribution grids to such locations as Aggregate
Technical & Commercial (AT&C) losses [4] in India are as
high as 20% in many states.

RELATED WORK

Husk Power Systems (HPS) [5] an early entrant in the

Indian microgrid space, utilizes rice husk- a plentiful rural
resource in many parts of India- to generate gas which is then
used for power generation. Such microgrid networks run for
upto 8 hours in the evening serving a fixed load (two 15W
CFL), thereby eliminating a need for metering solutions. The
customer is charged a fixed fee on monthly basis; typically
USD 2.2 a month [5]. However, the downside with this billing
mechanism is that there is no feedback for determination of
consumer behavior that might help understand and forecast
demand.

With the declining prices of renewable energy systems

particularly solar PV, a few microgrid pilot systems have been
commissioned in some villages. Such systems typically provide
unmetered, fixed duration (~250 minutes), fixed load (one or
two LED Lighting system, one mobile phone charger socket)
service immediately after sunset. Customers are charged a
fixed monthly fee for usage.

Gram Power Indias rural microgrid projects use an

effective, energy solution strategy in the Tonk district of
Rajasthan [6] and had 10 operational systems in 2012 and
plans to scale its solution to 200 homes in 2013.

The intent of our system is to provide a low cost, easy to

install-operate-maintain RED Box that leverages the
customers mobile phone as a proxy to communicate with the
USP. Through this, the customer can be offered incentives and
benefits by the USP based on usage. This usage is constantly

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Figure 2. (Left) PIC16F877A Microcontroller Pin Diagram (Right) AC Switching Voltage Stabilizer

tracked in the cloud by the USP, thereby allowing for enhanced

service over time. The design philosophy of the RED Box,
communication by SMS and the incentive structures are such
that the user requires no additional training on system usage.
The RED Box has been designed so that, production-scale cost
will continue to be under USD 10 and considering the low
service costs offered by Indian TSPs and hence is viable. It is
to be noted here that the number of mobile phone users is one
of the highest in India.

TABLE 1. SERIAL KEY LEGEND

For Type of
Service
For Category
in Type of
Service

This paper illustrates an Energy-on-Demand service for

Rural India.
IV.

Legend
Energy-on-Demand (EoD)
Incentive Offer Code (IOC)
Silver (Ag)
Gold (Au)
Platinum (Pt)

Code
363
463
024
028
078

device is provided with a RS-232 serial port for regular servicelevel firmware updates. These updates are done on a bi-annual
basis by an employee designated by the USP for synchronizing
key codes.

METHODOLOGY

The system consists of two different technologies - an

energy metering device and cloud services which provide data
analytics and optimized load management. These technologies
work in tandem with each other to provide the customer a
complete Energy-on-Demand (EoD) solution for their energy
requirements. An outline of the proposed system is that the
customer interacts with the backend through a Short
Messaging Service (SMS). The Telecom Service Provider
(TSP) provides a gateway for the customer-cloud system
interaction. The customers usage patterns are analyzed in the
cloud located at the USP and incentive offers are suggested by
the intelligence. The system block diagram description is
shown in Figure 1.

The RED Box validates the customer-entered serial key

which has been cloud-generated based on a pre-defined logic
and is provided to the customer via the mobile phone. The key
generation is described in detail in the cloud section. Once the
microcontroller validates the serial key, appropriate service is
provided to the subscriber. The model circuit diagram for the
RED Box is show in Figure 2.
1) Microcontroller
In the implementation of the RED Box we use a
PIC16F877A microcontroller. This controller cost less than
USD 4 off-the-shelf. The PIC microcontroller monitors all
aspects of the RED Box. Following are the roles of the
controller:
a) The PIC16F controller monitors the IC555 timer
circuit and the Phase-Locked-Loop (PLL).

A. Smart Rural Energy Device (RED) Box

The RED Box is the central point of the proposed system
that leverages the overall technology and design advantages.
This box is a standalone, self-sustained and offline device that
houses a microcontroller, an LCD for displaying information
and a keypad for inputs from the customer. Additionally, the

b) The microcontroller validates the user input serial key.

This key is unique to every user.

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2013 1st IEEE Conference on Technologies for Sustainability (SusTech)

c) The unique number of the RED Box and the mobile

number accounts for 6-digits of the serial key. The immediate
next three digits represent the type of transaction. For
example, if the request is for EoD service or an incentive offer
updrade. The next three are for the type of service, depending
on which, the various no. of devices to be powered can be
varied viz. either Silver, Gold or Platinum packages would
decide the no. of devices to be operated. The remaining four
digits are random generated numbers from the cloud.

c) In addition to this, the microcontroller acts as a

switch between the various plans viz. Platinum, Gold and
Silver), utility power supply and the customers board.
2) AC Switching Voltage Stabilizer
These regulators rapidly switch the transformer switches at
a frequency of 50 Hz. The AC voltage regulator circuit consists
of up / down voltage switching circuit and control circuit. The
switching is governed by the duty cycle. If the regulator output
voltage is too low, a wider duty cycle will be generated. If the
regulator output voltage is too high, a narrower duty cycle will
be generated. The output of operational amplifiers OA(1-3) is a
square wave having a varied duty cycle depending on the
feedback error voltage at its non-inverting input.

Typical example of a 16-digit serial key:

The input to the automatic AC voltage stabilizer is in the

range of 120-260V and the output of 220 (110%) V with
output power 300-1000W. The power supply to the circuit
consist of a step down capacitors C1, C2 resistors R1, rectifier
diodes, filter capacitor C3, a Q1 transistor for voltage control
and transistor D7. The voltage detection circuit consists of 4
Op-Amps, relays and diodes. The operational amplifiers are
connected to form a voltage comparator; resistors R1-R4 series
voltage divider circuit were the op-amps form the reference
voltage. The circuit diagram is shown in Figure 2 (right).
3) Timer Circuit
The 555 timer is a stable circuit capable of operating as an
accurate time-delay generator. When used as an oscillator the
frequency and duty cycle are accurately controlled by only
two external components, a resistor (R) and a capacitor (C).
The 555 timer is chosen for the following characteristics:
a) Timing from microseconds through hours.

The table above describes the code classification of the

activation code sent to the customer from the cloud through
the TSP.
B. Telecom Service Provider (TSP)
The TSP is a third-party service provider that facilitates the
communication between the customer and cloud. The
customer serves as a proxy for the cloud communicating with
the device.
The telecom company provides a short code (example:
54321) to which the customer sends an SMS through his
mobile phone. The syntax of the SMS is as follows:

b) Adjustable duty cycle.

c)

Wide range of operating voltage

d) High temperature tolerance range.

Drift in the timer circuit is controlled by a Phase-Lock-Loop
(PLL) as the low cost does not provide for a server based auto
correction mechanism, as the RED Box is an offline device.

SMS SC <space> msgstr_1 <space> msgstr_2

Where msgstr_1 is the category of the service like recharge
code or an offer code. The msgstr_2 is the credit value or
choice of the transaction. Once the customer interaction with
the TSP is complete, the TSP will update the necessary tables
on the cloud according to the syntax:

4) Serial Key Validation

The RED Box by design has a LCD display and a keypad
for user inputs. The 16-digit serial key has to be validated in
order to receive power from the USP. Every RED Box has a
10-digit unique number specific to the hardware. Every
customers mobile number (also 10-digit) is also unique. The
serial key is a combination of these two unique numbers. The
logic is described below:
a) The fifth digit of the unique number which is specific
to the RED Box is used as the parity bit. A successive
mathematical operation like addition is performed from the
fifth digit. The microcontroller is programmed in such a way
that it matchs all the possible combination (i.e. 5! matches).

http://tsp.com/v1/public/data?q=INSERT%20INTO%20ta
ble_name%20VALUES%20(value1%2C%20value2%2C%20v
alue3%2C...)
The cloud will process the request and send a confirmation
to the end-user via TSP. The cloud sends the confirmation and
the serial key which is to be validated by the RED Box through
the TSP. This is done through the URL provided by the TSP
also. The TSP customer interaction will be as:
http://tsp.com/v1/toCustomer/userid:user001&&authen:1
%203qw&&cust_code&&msgstr_3

b) As the mobile of every customer is also different, we

choose a parity and perform recurssive mathematical operation
from the parity bit. The PIC16F controller is instructed to
match all the possible combination.

The cost of a single customer touch-point cost using the

TSP is estimated at USD 0.05. This cost is lower than setting
up gateways and equipment.

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Figure 3. Database tables maintained on the cloud

c) Processing on the Cloud

The cloud processes the user information. Schedule-based
intelligence and analytics will be processed on the cloud.
Generate customer offers based on USP inputs.

C. The Cloud
The cloud implemented by the USP is the source of
intelligence of the proposed low-cost system. This provides the
Utility Service Provider provital information. The cloud is the
core for computational operations. The cloud is the
intermediary between the USP, the TSP and works in the
background for the customer. Due to the large computational
and storage capacity of the cloud, analytics can be useful for
the USPs business. We classify the cloud operation into three
parts: inputs to the cloud, process running on the cloud and
output from the cloud.

The indicative tables for this process are explained below.

The tables maintained in the cloud are: smsIn (updates when
an in-bound SMS is received), smsOut (updates when a SMS
is sent to the customer through the TSP), customerInfo (master
table which maintains customer details), offerHistory (updates
when an incentive is offered), offerTable (tacks and updates
when new offers are available), and transactions (updates
when monetary exchanges take place). These table structures
are shown in Figure 3.
Typical Cloud-based analytics (an example):
x Optimal energy usage in microgrid network
through dynamic pricing. Here, the customer is
made aware of all available pricing methods and
incentives prior to introduction of the system.
x The Cloud will provide contain the necessary data
for above analytics.
x Incentives communicated dynamically though
mobile gateway.
x Next Days Forecast, Running weeks Forecast
and Current Months Forecast.
Over a period of time, large amount of data is available for
testing new systems and optimization of energy systems.
D. Utility Service Provider (USP)
The Utility Service Provider (USP) could be a franchisee of
a regional distribution company or a microgrid operator cum

a) Inputs to the cloud

The cloud acts as a listener to both the TSP and USP. The
TSP sends the inbound customer request which is sent to the
short code. This input is processed in the cloud and later
transmitted. The USP input will contain new registered
customer details. The USP will update the rule engine for
incentives on the cloud and will also perform service updates
when necessary. The USP can request for on-demand analytics
from the cloud.
b) Output From the Cloud
The cloud output is in response to the TSPs inbound
request and shall in turn reply to the customer who has
demands for power. The cloud will process the collected data.
This processing can be analyzed and vital information like
perdition of load for the future can be done. The cloud will
also communicate to the customer the incentives offers
available on various categories. The cloud will commit all
analytics for the USPs further use.

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2013 1st IEEE Conference on Technologies for Sustainability (SusTech)

service provider, focused on typically operating a cluster of

microgrids in neighborhood villages.

incentivized to separately operate flexible load with specific

energy requirements and time-bound constant power
requirements.

In emerging microgrid models in India, the USP is typically

an operator that generates and distributes electricity in villages
but does not have any intelligence on customer behavior or
actual usage and therefore is unable to provide incentive
structures or improvise on sustainable commercial models. In
this model the USP through a low-cost cloud-based model has
a mechanism where it is able to track and monitor customer
behavior thereby providing it with valuable intelligence which
can not only incentivize customers but also help with demand
forecast and efficiently operative the distributed generation side
of the microgrid.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thanks Mr. Bharathwaj
Thirumalai Ananthanpillai, Senior Physical Design Engineer
at Synapse Design Automation and Mr. Francis Xavier,
Director Engineering at Ganymede Solutions Private Limited
for their valuable suggestions and inputs.
REFERENCE
[1]

A simple use case of this data would allow the USP to

predict the rise and fall of demand-supply equilibrium to
generate incentives during particular time periods to select
users with available credit and earlier behavior response via
"special offers" to effectively handle the demand-supply
situation at the microgrid level or a cluster level as the case
may be.
IV.

[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]

CONCLUSION

[6]

The RED Box has been designed taking into consideration

cost, easy-of-installation, operation and maintenance. The
Rural Energy Device box has been prototyped using generic
components available in open market so as to facilitate low cost
large scale commercial manufacturing in developing countries
using standard machine shops. This has been done keep in
mind that rural India alone might require about 100 million of
such devices with in the next decade. Conscious choices like
keeping the RED Box offline, leveraging on existing
infrastructure like third party telecom service provider (TSP),
use of SMS as a proxy instead of other GPRS/3G based
solutions and next generation technologies like cloud
computing have been incorporated in line with the design
philosophy. The use of TSP and cloud has been proposed to
lower the initial capital expense that a Utility Service Provider
(USP) might additionally incur.

[7]

The RED Box cost is envisioned to be under USD 10 at

commercial scale production. We believe that the data that can
be gathered from such a system will far outweigh the cost of
implementation. Further, the structure proposed is such that,
the incentive structures derived and subsequently availed by the
customer alone will generate additional revenue to the USP,
thus paying for the system. Over time, we believe that the data
stored in the cloud will provide valuable insights to the USP
that can be used for Demand-Side-Management (DSM) in
isolated/interconnected microgrid networks and efficient sizing
of Distributed Generation (DG) sources as they become more
prevalent.
V.

FUTURE WORK

The design can be future developed for specific generation

scenarios including those with variable renewable energy
(example solar PV) where the cost of service will be dynamic
based on whether Solar PV is generating or the supply is
through a storage like battery. In such cases, users can be

249

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