Smart meters are revolutionizing how energy is measured, monitored, and managed across residential, commercial, and industrial segments. End-to-end smart metering solutions combine compact embedded hardware, wireless connectivity, and cloud-based data management into a seamless system that enables real-time energy visibility without disruptive rewiring. Embien's eStorm-B1 — a member of the eStorm series SoMs and SBCs — is specifically engineered to power such end-to-end smart metering solutions, delivering wireless energy meter reading, local data logging, and remote monitoring capability in a production-ready package.
The embedded system for energy metering built around eStorm-B1 communicates with existing electricity meters over standard Modbus RTU (RS232/RS485), eliminating the need to replace deployed metering infrastructure. This retrofit-friendly approach makes end-to-end smart metering solutions accessible to facility managers and energy consultants who need actionable data from meters already installed in the field. Embien offers these capabilities across industries ranging from manufacturing plants and data centres to retail chains and healthcare facilities. Our IoT Product Development Services team handles the full stack — from firmware on the eStorm-B1 to the Android application and cloud backend.
eStorm Series SoMs and SBCs: The Platform for Smart Metering
The eStorm series SoMs and SBCs from Embien are a family of compact, wireless-capable system modules and single-board computers designed for industrial and IoT applications. The eStorm series SoMs and SBCs are built to automotive-grade quality standards, making them suitable for demanding environments where temperature cycling, vibration, and long-term reliability are essential requirements.
eStorm-B1, the BLE-enabled member of the eStorm series SoMs and SBCs, offers the following hardware capabilities:
- Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 4.2 wireless connectivity for smartphone and gateway integration
- UART, SPI, and I2C interfaces for connecting to Modbus energy meters and peripheral sensors
- Onboard flash memory for local data logging during connectivity interruptions
- Compact form factor suitable for mounting inside meter panels or DIN-rail enclosures
- Low-power firmware design enabling battery-backed or bus-powered operation
- Production-ready firmware with configurable Modbus register maps
Beyond energy metering, the eStorm series SoMs and SBCs support a range of IoT gateway, asset tracking, and condition monitoring applications — providing customers with a reusable hardware platform that reduces development cost across multiple product lines.
Embedded System for Energy Metering: eStorm-B1 Application
The embedded system for energy metering built with eStorm-B1 operates by periodically polling the electricity meter over a wired Modbus RTU interface and transmitting the collected energy parameters wirelessly via BLE to a paired smartphone or local IoT gateway. This embedded system for energy metering architecture avoids the cost and disruption of installing new communication cabling in existing buildings — a critical advantage for retrofitting older metering infrastructure.
The embedded system for energy metering reads the following parameters from connected electricity meters:
- Active energy consumption (kWh) — cumulative and interval-based
- Reactive energy (kVAR) — for power factor analysis
- RMS voltage (V) — per phase for three-phase meters
- RMS current (A) — per phase
- Apparent power (kVA) and active power (kW)
- Power factor and frequency
- Demand registers and time-of-use data where supported by the meter
All parameters are packaged into a structured BLE notification payload and transmitted to the companion Android application, completing the wireless data path that is central to Embien's end-to-end smart metering solutions.
End-to-End Smart Metering Solutions: System Architecture
Embien's end-to-end smart metering solutions span four integrated layers: meter data acquisition, wireless BLE transmission, mobile application visualization, and cloud-based reporting and analytics. Each layer is designed to be independently scalable, so customers can deploy a simple single-meter BLE monitoring setup today and evolve to a multi-site cloud reporting platform tomorrow — all using the same eStorm-B1 hardware.
The architecture of the end-to-end smart metering solutions is as follows:
- Meter Layer: Existing digital energy meters with Modbus RTU (RS232 or RS485) interface. No meter replacement required.
- eStorm-B1 Layer: The embedded module polls the meter, stores readings locally, and transmits via BLE. Firmware is field-upgradable over BLE FOTA.
- Mobile Application Layer: The Android DAQ Suite application discovers eStorm-B1 over BLE, displays live readings, exports CSV data, and forwards readings to the cloud over cellular or Wi-Fi.
- Cloud Layer: A backend API aggregates data from multiple sites, provides dashboards, alert thresholds, and reports for energy auditors and facility managers.
This layered design makes end-to-end smart metering solutions easy to deploy without any changes to the existing electrical installation — a key differentiator for retrofit projects in commercial and industrial buildings.
Digital Energy Meter Integration
The eStorm-B1 embedded system for energy metering is compatible with a wide range of single-phase and three-phase digital energy meter models that expose a Modbus RTU interface over RS232 or RS485. Supported digital energy meter types include DIN-rail panel meters, multifunction power analyzers, and smart meters from leading manufacturers such as Schneider Electric, ABB, Elmeasure, and Secure Meters. The Modbus register map is configurable via the eStorm-B1 firmware, allowing new meter models to be supported through a configuration file update rather than a full firmware rebuild. This flexibility is a core design principle of Embien's end-to-end smart metering solutions.
Energy Management IoT Solutions for Commercial Buildings
Energy management IoT solutions for commercial buildings benefit greatly from wireless energy monitoring using eStorm-B1. In a commercial building — office complex, retail outlet, or hospital — multiple electricity meters typically monitor different distribution panels, floors, or tenants. Deploying eStorm-B1 modules on each meter creates a wireless mesh of energy data points that facilities managers can access through the mobile application or cloud dashboard without visiting the meter room. Energy management IoT solutions for commercial buildings powered by Embien's eStorm-B1 enable load balancing decisions, energy auditing for ISO 50001 compliance, peak demand management, and anomaly detection for faulty equipment — all from a single unified platform built on the eStorm series SoMs and SBCs.
About Embien: Embien Technologies is a product engineering services company specializing in embedded hardware design, firmware development, and IoT system integration. Our end-to-end smart metering solutions using the eStorm series SoMs and SBCs have been deployed in energy monitoring projects across manufacturing, commercial real estate, and utilities sectors. Our team delivers complete solutions — from the embedded system for energy metering firmware on eStorm-B1 to the Android mobile application and cloud data pipeline — enabling customers to bring smart metering products to market rapidly with proven, production-ready components.