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Solutions for AC energy monitoring

Real projects, real configurations. From single-circuit to power-quality analysis. Pick a solution by what you want to build, not by which SKU has the right number on its silkscreen.

[BREADCRUMBS: Home / Solutions]

Browse by scenario

[2-column layout: filter sidebar (left, sticky desktop) + solutions grid (right)]

Filter sidebar (sticky)

By scenario

  • Single appliance
  • Sub-metering
  • Solar self-consumption
  • EV charger metering
  • 3-phase home
  • Tariff zones
  • Power quality
  • NILM / Disaggregation
  • Remote monitoring

    • By segment

  • Home (1-phase)
  • Home (3-phase)
  • Solar / Off-grid
  • Sub-metering / Rental
  • Industrial / B2B

    • By difficulty

  • Beginner DIY
  • Intermediate
  • Advanced

    • [CONTENT NOTE: filter UI is non-functional on M0 — visual sidebar only. M+1: ESPHome-component-style filtering.]

    Solutions grid

    ☀ Solar self-consumption

    Stop selling cheap solar back to the grid. Bidirectional metering + auto-redirect surplus to water heater, EV charger, or pool pump via rbDimmer cross-link.

    • Required: Standard UI3 · CT 50A · ESP32 + ESPHome
    • Difficulty: Intermediate
    • Typical result: 60–80% self-consumption (vs 30–50% baseline). For 5 kW PV: €500–1000/year saved.

    [Read solution → /solutions/solar-self-consumption]

    ⚡ 3-phase home

    Per-phase metering with hardware sync. Standard UI3 single-module (one phase fed to all 3 CTs via clamp positioning), OR 3-Phase Kit for true 3 × UI1 sync via I²C General Call broadcast latch.

    • Required: 3-Phase Kit (3 × Standard UI1 + sync) OR Standard UI3
    • Difficulty: Intermediate
    • Use case: apartments on 3-phase service, small commercial, EU households on TPN.

    [Read solution → /solutions/3-phase-home]

    🏢 Sub-metering for rentals

    Apartment-level metering for tenant billing (advisory, NOT MID-certified). Atomic Wh accounting per tenant, no read-reset drift.

    • Required: 1–3 × Standard UI1 (one per tenant) · CT clamps · ESP32 + Cloud or RBgrid
    • Difficulty: Intermediate
    • Important: for actual MID-certified billing, pair rbAmp with a certified meter as the billing-of-record device.

    [Read solution → /solutions/sub-metering]

    🚗 EV charger metering

    Cost-per-charge tracking, tariff-zone-aware. Whole-circuit measurement OR sub-circuit via dedicated UI1.

    • Required: Standard UI1 · CT 50A (for typical 32A charger) · ESPHome + HA tariff blueprint
    • Difficulty: Beginner-Intermediate
    • Output: kWh per session, cost at applicable tariff, monthly EV cost summary in HA.

    [Read solution → /solutions/ev-charger-metering]

    🕐 Tariff zones (TOU)

    Peak / off-peak / weekend zones with atomic latch at boundary transitions. Wh matches utility bill within sensor noise.

    • Required: Standard UI1 minimum · ESP32 + ESPHome (or RBgrid for richer scheduling)
    • Difficulty: Intermediate
    • Why atomic latch matters: classical UART meter loses 0.5–2% per month at zone transitions. rbAmp loses 0%.

    [Read solution → /solutions/tariff-zones]

    🔍 Power quality analysis (PRO)

    Harmonic spectrum, THD, sag/swell event capture. For labs, R&D, building energy audits, electrical contractors.

    • Required: PRO module (Coming Q3 2026) · ESP32 + raw API or PRO-specific library
    • Difficulty: Advanced
    • Coming: [Pre-order PRO → /products/pro]

    [Read solution → /solutions/power-quality]

    📡 NILM / Load disaggregation

    Identify individual appliances from a single aggregate measurement using ML. Research / advanced DIY territory.

    • Required: Standard UI1 at high sample rate · external ML pipeline (Python on Raspberry Pi)
    • Difficulty: Advanced
    • Note: rbAmp exposes raw waveform data via API; the ML stack is your call (NILMTK, BLOND, or custom).

    [Read solution → /solutions/nilm]

    🌾 Remote pump / off-grid monitoring

    Farm pump telemetry, off-grid cabin energy dashboards, remote installations without WiFi. LoRaWAN gateway needed.

    • Required: LoRaWAN Basic UI1 (Coming Q4 2026) · LoRaWAN gateway in range · The Things Network / Helium / self-hosted ChirpStack
    • Difficulty: Intermediate (gateway setup is the work)
    • Output: energy readings every 5–10 min uploaded via LoRaWAN to your dashboard.

    [Read solution → /solutions/remote-monitoring]

    🔌 Single-appliance monitoring

    What is the fridge / heater / dishwasher actually drawing? UI1 or A1 minimum-config monitoring.

    • Required: Basic UI1 OR A1 · CT 10–30A · ESP32 + ESPHome
    • Difficulty: Beginner DIY
    • Use case: identifying energy hogs, validating manufacturer specs, debugging cyclic appliances.

    [Read solution → /solutions/single-appliance]

    Don't see your solution?

    Have a custom use case? Bench-style measurement, an unusual building, or a research scenario we haven't covered?

    [CTA: Contact us → /contact-us] (navy outline)

    For lab / R&D / OEM collaboration, the B2B program is the right entry point — we can spec a custom setup for your scenario.

    Related

    • Projects hub — real installations built on rbAmp (Featured / Community / Partners)
    • All Products — pick a module if you already know what you need
    • Documentation — protocol, registers, code patterns
    • Tools — Configurator and Calibration Wizard to speed up the setup