Low-cost energy meter calibration method for measurement and verification

Herman Carstens, Xiaohua Xia and Sarma Yadavalli

Applied Energy, 2017, vol. 188, issue C, 563-575

Abstract: Energy meters need to be calibrated for use in Measurement and Verification (M&V) projects. However, calibration can be prohibitively expensive and affect project feasibility negatively. This study presents a novel low-cost in-situ meter data calibration technique using a relatively low accuracy commercial energy meter as a calibrator. Calibration is achieved by combining two machine learning tools: the SIMulation EXtrapolation (SIMEX) Measurement Error Model and Bayesian regression. The model is trained or calibrated on half-hourly building energy data for 24h. Measurements are then compared to the true values over the following months to verify the method. Results show that the hybrid method significantly improves parameter estimates and goodness of fit when compared to Ordinary Least Squares regression or standard SIMEX. This study also addresses the effect of mismeasurement in energy monitoring, and implements a powerful technique for mitigating the bias that arises because of it. Meters calibrated by the technique presented have adequate accuracy for most M&V applications, at a significantly lower cost.

Keywords: Measurement and verification; Bayesian statistics; Energy metering; Measurement uncertainty; Measurement error models; Calibration; Metrology; Machine learning; Simulation extrapolation; Errors-in-variables (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:appene:v:188:y:2017:i:c:p:563-575

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DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.12.028

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