Design of a Smart Metering System with Prepayment Functionality for Electricity Distribution in Rural Communities in Kano State

Electricity revenue collection inefficiency due to non-payment and meter bypass is a major challenge facing distribution companies serving rural communities in Kano State, North West Nigeria. This project presents the design of a smart prepayment electricity metering system that requires consumers to load credit units before electricity is supplied, eliminating post-paid billing challenges. The meter hardware uses a PZEM-004T energy monitoring module interfaced with an Arduino Nano microcontroller to measure voltage, current, power factor, and accumulated energy consumption. A credit loading mechanism accepts 16-digit tokens generated by an online vending platform and entered by the consumer via a keypad. The microcontroller compares consumed energy in kilowatt-hours against the available credit balance and disconnects a relay-controlled supply when the balance reaches zero, while a buzzer provides low-credit warnings at 10 percent and 5 percent remaining balance. The system was prototyped and demonstrated to officials of the Kano Electricity Distribution Company during a technical evaluation. Metering accuracy was validated against a certified reference energy meter, showing an error of less than 0.5 percent at power factors above 0.8. Credit management security was assessed against common bypass attempts, demonstrating resilience to direct wire bridging through the relay circuit. Fabrication cost per meter unit was approximately 14,000 Naira. The study recommends PLC-based communication for remote meter reading integration with utility control centres. Keywords: smart metering, prepayment electricity, energy monitoring, rural electrification, Kano State