Energy consumption demands are rapidly increasing every year, with an 8% annual growth rate projected for the next five years. As buildings represent over 35% of this demand, a metering system is required for monitoring to accurately calculate costs. This paper explores the evolution and impact of energy management through smart meters, emphasizing their superiority over traditional electromechanical devices, in applications such as minimizing power losses and enhancing grid reliability. This study compares the performance of five distinct metering systems, including electromechanical and advanced smart meters. Real-time testing across various scenarios is incorporated, examining parameters such as real and reactive power measurement, accuracy and adaptability to smart grids. Key findings revealed that smart meters, notably the EDMI Mk10A, outperform legacy systems in precision, data transmission and energy optimization. In addition, the potential of smart meters to enable dynamic cost calculation and prevent electricity theft is evident. Despite their advantages, challenges such as data privacy, installation costs and electromagnetic radiation concerns, persist. Future investigations to address the identified limitations are required.

Lithium-ion batteries are utilized everywhere from electronic equipment, smartphones and laptops to electric vehicles; however, certain disadvantages are inherited including high-cost and low-temperature range, caused by high currents. In this paper, a compact and low-cost battery management system is presented which can measure the voltage and current for both the battery and power supply. Two NTC thermistors, 10k and 100K Ohm each, are exploited for collecting battery temperature in two different spots of the socket for direct comparison and validation while an additional sensor measures external temperature and humidity. A charging socket is provided for charging the cell through an external source with dynamic voltage output to test the battery response. Finally, an Arduino-compatible device is implemented in order to protect the battery from overcharging. This system collects parameters at a 10 s time rate and calculates precious parameters of the battery-like State of Charge (SoC), State of Health (SoH) and State of Power (SoP). Keeping the operation within a safe zone of 20–80% SoC maximizes longevity and ensures that it can provide even the maximum power to cover the load required; hence, these three parameters are considered collaborative. Afterwards, the collected data are sent over Wi-Fi on the internet application server for real-time monitoring, in an efficient, portable and low-cost setup.

With the exponential development of MEMS (Micro-Electromechanical Systems) in the last decade, emphasis has been placed on the construction of IoT devices in conjunction with an appropriate information system to assist citizens in various fields (transportation, trade, etc.). More specifically, in the health sector,, there are specific IoT devices which can monitor a patient’s health condition or provide environmental data for the area, information which affects health quality conditions. In densely populated areas and especially in large cities, in terms of environmental pollution, as well as the known issue of air pollution, citizens are also exposed to solar radiation (ultraviolet UVA UVB radiation), as well as to noise pollution in areas where people live and work. Ultraviolet radiation, especially during the summer months, is responsible for skin cancer and various eye diseases, while noise pollution can create mental disorders in humans, especially in children. In this article, a low-cost solar radiation and noise pollution monitoring station is presented. The parts that compose the station and its implementation are a microcontroller (TTGO-OLED32) with an integrated LoRa device, an ultraviolet radiation sensor and sound sensors. In addition, a mini ups device is used in case of power failure and a GPS device is utilized for the location point. The measurements are obtained by the sensors every ten minutes and are transmitted via the LoRa network to an application server in which the user has direct access to the environmental data of a specific area. In conclusion, the data obtained from such IoT devices help in the study of cities to optimize factors in people’s lives.

Lithium batteries are characterized as the heart of every electronic device, introducing a plethora of benefits like high energy density and durability without the need for maintenance. However, lithium cells suffer from increased temperatures caused by high voltage and peak loads. These operating conditions lead to lithium deposition and partial electrolyte decomposition, limiting the total capacity (state of health) or even causing possible breakdown of the batteries. Hence, consistent monitoring is essential to ensure the maximum lifespan without impacting safety. In this paper, a compact module consisting of three batteries is introduced to gather values like temperature, voltage and current, all transferred to an online server and monitored through the Grafana application. The tests indicate that the temperature is very high when the power output increases the stress on the battery components. To further project this pattern, two distinct sets of batteries were used for testing the use of different power states, revealing that a 2.5-fold increased power output results in voltage drops. The results show that a high power output, tested on the second set of batteries with a limited state of health, is increased by an additional 5%, while the battery is highly stressed within the manufacturer safety zone.

In recent years, advances in both technology and medicine have made great progress. With the development of technology, low-cost and high-precision sensors have emerged and microcontrollers with high computing power and low power consumption have been created. In densely populated urban areas, health care is provided by a set of hospitals and medical centers where every patient can find an immediate response to their health concerns. However, medical care, particularly in non-urban areas, remains limited as many such areas do not have a hospital or medical center nearby. This results in inadequate medical care, both diagnostic and preventive, for the inhabitants of these areas. Today, the development of microprocessors, high-speed internet, and the low-cost sensors that have been developed can enable the creation of autonomous, accessible health monitoring units. In this work, an integrated low-cost, wearable electrocardiograph system is presented. The system is able to operate wherever there is an active internet connection. The proposed system consists of two parts. Firstly, the wearable ECG which can be located in the patient’s home. Secondly, the information system, in which the data from wearable ECG are collected and visualized, so that the doctor has direct access to the patient’s condition. Health is a precious commodity, and the application of technology is imperative, especially for the health care of citizens in remote areas.

The climatic conditions of a region are a constant object of study, especially now that climate change is clearly affecting quality of life and the way we live. The study of the climatic conditions of a region is conducted through meteorological data. Meteorological installations include a set of sensors to monitor the meteorological and climatic conditions of an area. Meteorological data parameters include measurements of temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind speed, and direction, as well as tools such as an oratometer and a pyranometer, etc. Specifically, the pyranometer is a high-cost instrument, which has the ability to measure the intensity of the sunshine on the surface of the earth, expressing the measurement in Watt/m². Pyranometers have many applications. They can be used to monitor solar energy in a given area, in automated systems such as photovoltaic system management, or in automatic building shading systems. In this research, both the implementation and the evaluation of an integrated low-cost pyranometer system is presented. The proposed pyranometer device consists of affordable modules, both microprocessor and sensor. In addition, a central server, as the information system, was created for data collection and visualization. The data from the measuring system is transmitted via a wireless network (Wi-Fi) over the Internet to an information system (central server), which includes a database for collecting and storing the measurements, and visualization software. The end user can retrieve the information through a web page. The results are encouraging, as they show a satisfactory degree of determination of the measurements of the proposed low-cost device in relation to the reference measurements. Finally, a correction function is presented, aiming at more reliable measurements.