2012 3rd IEEE PES Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Europe (ISGT Europe), Berlin
Noninvasive Monitoring of Residential Loads
Antonio C. S. Lima, Member, IEEE, Alexandre P. Alves da Silva, Senior Member, IEEE, Diego
Nascimento
Abstract— This paper presents a new methodology for the
noninvasive identification of residential loads. The main goal is to
develop a prototype capable to determine in real-time consumers
loads based upon their energy signatures. The mathematical
modeling is based on identification using signal processing
techniques. Both simulation and measurements were considered
in the analysis.
Index Terms—Intelligent measuring, energy signature, signal
processing
I. INTRODUCTION
T HE so-called smart grid is a new area of application in
power systems with respect to communication and
flexible control. A suitable application/development of a smart
grid demands a concrete knowledge of the systems
components be it generation, transmission and distribution
networks and loads is needed.
Despite its importance, the load remains one of the key
elements that elude a thorough identification. Moreover, if we
are dealing with distribution/residential loads there is a “grey
area” when it comes to an accurate assessment of the load
behavior. Therefore, there is an increasing interesting in the
identification of the residential consumer loads, preferably in a
noninvasive manner.
A recent technique proposed in the literature is the Echo-
Resonance (ERLM) [1] and the Sign-Up Load Registration
(SULR) [2]. The ERLM method has been applied in several
areas such as medicine, engineering and safety. It consists
basically in the application of a signal and the analysis of its
response. In SULR there is linked system allowing a power
utility to access the residential loads using the Internet. Albeit
being very interesting techniques, there is not as many papers
in the technical literature when compared with invasive
methodologies. For instance, in [3] and [4], invasive
measurements were carried out using low cost sensors in the
residential loads. The goal was to create a large database
allowing the power utility to detect any event in the local
consumer. The main drawback of this approach is the lack of
generality. There is not guarantee that two similar consumers
may behave similarly. To overcome this, in the past years
several research projects were developed in the field of
noninvasive identifications based on using the infrastructure
already available in residential consumers. Methods such as
equipment monitoring for basic inferences of residential
A. C. S. Lima, D. Nascimento, A. P. Alves da Silva are with Universidade
Federal do Rio de Janeiro, COPPE/UFRJ, P.O. Box 68504, CEP: 21945-970,
Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil (e-mail: acsl@poli.ufrj.br, dasilva@ge.com).
978-1-4673-2597-4/12/$31.00 ©2012 IEEE
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loads [5] and usage of distribution lines for noninvasive
identification of residential loads have been developed [6].
In this work we propose a new monitoring system capable
of provide noninvasive identification of low voltage consumer
loads. The methodology is divided in two stages: hardware
responsible for consumer data in real time and software to
identify the events (consumer loads operations). The
developed equipment stands for a significant advance when it
comes to load monitoring as it can be used to identify the load
behavior and consumer habits which later can be used to
profile the power consumption in any given area.
This paper is structured as follows. In the next section, we
present some background in the technical literature regarding
smart metering. Section III details the development of the
equipment including the methodology and the hardware
assembly used for the load identification. Section IV shows
the several test cases carried out and finally Section VI shows
the main conclusions of this paper.
II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
The work of Hart [7] was pioneer in the usage of
noninvasive measurements of residential loads. The meter was
installed in the entrance of the residence, any event was
detected by the variation of the active power (∆P) caused by
the turn on or turn off of any appliance. The main idea of this
methodology is to compare the sudden changes in active and
reactive power with measures of active and reactive power
previously acquired. The main drawback of this methodology
is the lack of flexibility, small loads or loads with a rich
harmonic content may go unnoticed. Later Drenker and
Kader [8] developed commercial equipment based on [7]
In [9] it is proposed a monitoring of residential loads carried
out by artificial neural networks (ANN). The ANNs are used
to identify the harmonic generation with the spectrum being
acquired by means of the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). In
this work only odd harmonics were considered in steady-state
for training the ANNs using Multi-layer Perceptrons (MLP),
Radial Basis Functions (RBF) and Support Vector Machine
(SVM). The MLP and SVM attained a high performance
being able to identify up to 95% of the tests, and 90% when
considered three-phase equipment. There are some questions
concerning how this methodology would behavior in case of
equipment with distinct harmonic signatures that might not be
well classified.
In [10] and [11] it is developed the concept of Electric-Load
Intelligence using several algorithms for characteristics
extraction and identification. The data can be analyzed in
snapshots or deltas (for the difference of two consecutive
snapshots. Optimization routine and pattern recognition are
 2

also used. A method called Committee Decision Mechanism signal. After the comparison using several Wavelet
(CDM) is developed to manage each extraction algorithms so Transforms, it was decided to use the Stationary Wavelet
a unique solution can be found. Transform (SWT). Its main advantage relies on the fact that is
time-invariant. This allows a better noise cancelation. Fig. 4
III. DEVICE DEVELOPMENT depicts a signal decomposition using SWT. In this work it was
used a mother wavelet based daubechies 4 (db4), as it had a
A. Methodology & software assembly
better performance in the load analysis when compared with
As mentioned above, the use of harmonic content spectrum other mother wavelets such as Haar.
even when combined with artificial intelligence was not
enough for a more complete evaluation of the load behavior.
Although there is an increase of nonlinear residential loads,
their harmonic content is very similar, i.e., different equipment
may present very similar current waveforms and assuming a
similar voltage at the load terminals the residential load
presents a similar power output.
Thus in this paper, we adopted an alternative way. First the
measured signal, uR ( t ) , is converted to an analytic signal,
uS ( t ) , using the Hilbert Transform [12], the phase of the
analytic signal is a time varying quantity given by (1).
φ ( t ) = arg ( u S ( t ) ) (1)
The principal value in the convolution integral of the
Hilbert Transform may present some numerical issues, thus
for a more efficient numerical procedure the discrete
analytical signal is used. In this case, the discrete analytical
signal is obtained by means of the FFT algorithm ( see Fig. 1. Measured current of three distinct types of lamps.
Appendix A ). Using (1) is possible to obtain the so-called
instantaneous frequency given below.
dφ ( t )
ωinst = (2)
dt
One interesting aspect of an analytic signal is that
instantaneous frequency presents a waveform which is
affected by all the harmonic contents in the original signal.
To illustrate the impact of the analytic signal approach,
consider the measured currents of three different lamps, each
with a different bulb. The first lamp (L.B. #1) has a compact
bulb, and the other two have conventional bulbs (L.B. #2 and
L.B. #3, from two distinct manufacturers and using different
technologies). Fig. 1 depicts the measured currents of these
three lamps and Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 show time-varying angle
associated with the measured current from each lamps and the
absolute value of the analytic signal, respectively.
From these figures, it can be seen that using an analytic
Fig. 2. Time-varying angle of the analytic signal for the measured current of
signal associated with the measured currents it is possible to three lamps.
“cluster” similar devices. Both the phase and amplitude
information of the analytic signal provide an useful Fig. 5 shows the wavelet decomposition for the absolute
information, i.e., similar devices present similar behavior and value of the analytic signal associated with the measured
small differences in the equipment structure can provide very current of a compact lamp using SWT. Each level of the SWT
different waveforms. is further analyzed using the Burg algorithm. The Burg
For the equipment identification we could use either the algorithm allows to parametric estimation of the power
phase angle of the absolute value of the analytic signal. One spectrum of a signal.
peculiar characteristic found was that the absolute value would Fig. 6 shows the Burg spectrum of each SWT level for a
create waveforms with a more pronounce maxima, while loads compact fluorescent light with a filter of order eight. Using the
with low harmonic content tend to produce smooth curves. Burg spectrum is possible to identify the maxima in the
Thus we decided to further analyze the absolute value using a spectrum of each level of the SWT decomposition. This is an
Wavelet Transform. The Wavelet Transform is used as it can important feature as it then used as a comparison parameter in
efficiently deal with discontinuities and transients in the the load identification.

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 3

Fig.6. Burg Spectrum for a compact fluorescent lamp with AR filter of 8th
Fig. 3. Absolute value of the analytic signal for the measured current of three order
lamps.
A bandpass filter was used after the voltage and current
transducers it has 95dB of damping and it was synthesized in
order to allow that and the sampling ratio did not affect
significantly the measured results. Each channel used for the
measurements had an insulation of 1 kV. The measurements
results were transmitted using an UDP protocol in an Ethernet
connection for data processing. The number of samples for
60 Hz period was 256. Fig. 7 shows the front-end used for
Fig. 4. Structure of the SWT data acquisition and Fig. 8 shows ARM Cortex platform used
for data processing.

Fig.7. Front-end for data acquisition

Fig. 5. Stationary Wavelet Decomposition for the absolute value of the

analytic signal for the measured compact lamp current

B. Hardware Assembly
For the implementation of this methodology in a standalone
device, all the routines were coded in C++ using the Eclipse
IDE. Linux was used as a framework for the implementation
of the hardware. For the hardware assembly some details of
signal processing were needed to be treated. First all current
and voltage transducers were based on resistors to maintain an
adequate bandwidth.
Fig.8. ARM Cortex A9 platform used

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The next stage was to develop a database of measured data.
Several loads were measured, to name just a few: air
conditioner, coffee machine, LED light, water drinker, LCD
TV, Stereo sound system, blender, refrigerator, conventional
(tube) TV, pump, electric shower, toaster, desktop computer,
notebook computer, blender, microwave, DVD player, lamps
(conventional, compact ), iron, etc.
For the building of the database, the following structure
was used:
1. Acquire current measurements, i(t)
2. Apply Hilbert transform in the measured current, i.e,
I H ( t ) = i ( t ) + jH ( i ( t ) )
3. Apply the SWT to the absolute value of I H and obtain
the Burg spectrum of each component of the SWT
4. Identify the peeks in the Burg Spectrum and then create a
“dictionary” with this data
Although not shown in details in this paper we have also
considered alternative analyses using the measured power and
the “instantaneous” admittance (a time-domain transfer
function of the current over voltage). The results are shown in
the next section.
IV. TEST CASES
For the test cases, first we considered loads that were
already in the dictionary and despite their differences it was
found that there are some similarities between all these loads
allowing us to create two main groups, namely:
A. Pumping and compressors: contains refrigerator,
water drinker, pump, air conditioner
B. Electronic devices: DVD player, desktop
computer, wireless phone, notebook computer.
Table 1 summarizes the results of the simulations, the level
of identification reached very good results using only currents
results.
TABLE 1: Simulation results as a function of measured data considered
Group Equipment
Input data
identification identification
Current 99% 97%
Time-domain 36,28% 17,24%
admitance
Power 97,9% 95,7%
For the real time identification only current measurements
data were considered. Using 10 measurements for equipment
identification, the rate of correct identification was in average
97.22% considering the groups and 88.8% for the equipment
identification.
V. CONCLUSIONS
For the implementation of any smart system, a small but yet
fundamental object is the area known as smart-metering. It is
in this area that this paper is focused. It has presented a device
that was able to obtain a very high rate of correct identification
and using only current measurements the main advance of the
developed equipment relies in the fact that it can be carried out
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4
without interference with the consumer. The device can be
installed outside the consumer residence allowing a true
noninvasive assessment of the energy consumption.
Even though the device has presented an excellent
identification rate there are still some issues that might
improve its performance. There is a difference between the
right identification rate in the simulation results and
experimental ones and this occurs essentially in the electronic
loads. This difference needs to be explained and understood.
Differences in the operation mode that may appear in the
electronic loads may be responsible for that mismatch and
(3) further research is still need to clarify this subject.
Another issue not considered here is the impact of the
power factor in the identification. This information may be
helpful to improve the identification of loads with a similar
power profile.
VI. APPENDIX A – HILBERT TRANSFORM
The Hilbert Transform, Η (.) , allows to turn a real signal in
time-domain, uR ( t ) into an analytic signal, i.e., a complex
one, uS ( t ) , i.e.,
us ( t ) = uR ( t ) + jΗ ( uR ( t ) ) = uR ( t ) + juI ( t ) (4)
where the imaginary part of the analytic signal can be obtained
via the principal value of the following convolution.
1 ∞ u R (τ )
uI (t ) = ∫ dτ (5)
π −∞ t − τ
The analytic signal is then a function in which its frequency
domain response is null for negative frequencies.
The discrete analytical signal is obtained as follows: let the
discrete version of the original signal, uR ( t ) , sampled through
a time T be a vector u in which the FFT is given by another
vector U . The discrete analytic signal is a vector W whose k
components are given by (5).
⎧ U [0] k =0
⎪
⎪ 2U [k ] −1 ≤ k ≤ N − 1
W ⎡⎣k ⎤⎦ = ⎨ 2 (6)
⎪U ⎡⎣ N 2⎤⎦ k=N 2
⎪ 0 N 2 +1 ≤ k ≤ N −1
⎩
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5
Antonio Carlos Siqueira de Lima (St. M’1995, M’2000) was born in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil in 1971. He received the undergraduate degree in electrical
engineering degree from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in 1995, and
the master´s and doctor´s degrees from the same university in 1997 and 1999.
During 1998 he was a visiting scholar at the Department of Electrical
Engineering, the University of British Columbia. From 2000 to 2002 he was
with the Brazilian Independent System Operator (ONS) and since 2002 he is a
professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Federal University of
Rio de Janeiro. His main interests are in modeling of power system equipment
and electromagnetic transients.
Alexandre Alves Pinto da Silva (M’1993) has undergraduate and master's
degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Catholic University of Rio de
Janeiro, PUC-Rio (1984 and 1987), and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering
(Systems and Control) from University of Waterloo, Canada (1992). He was a
Visiting Scholar at University of Washington, Seattle, USA, in 1999. He
worked at the Federal University of Itajubá from 1993 to 2002, where he
coordinated the Professional Master Program in Electrical Power Systems. He
was a Full Professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (COPPE)
from 2002 to 2011, where he was Chairman of the Electrical Engineering
Graduate Program. His main research interest is energy systems, with
emphasis on generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, focusing
on power system operation, smart grids, renewable energy, and pattern
recognition. Dr. da Silva has published two hundred full papers, with 42 in
journals and 7 book chapters. He has worked regularly as a consultant and
manager of research projects for major companies in the Brazilian energy
sector. Dr. da Silva is Chairman of the Intelligent Systems Subcommittee of
the IEEE Power and Energy Society. Currently, Dr. da Silva is a Technology
Manager at GE Global Research in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Diego Nascimento was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1984. He received
the electrical engineering degree from Fluminense Federal University in 2009
and the master’s degree from Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in 2012.
Presently he is pursing a Ph.D. degree at the Federal University of Rio de
Janeiro. His main interests are in Smart Systems application in Power
Systems.