Power Theft Detection Using PIR Motion Sensor

  • Unique Paper ID: 189206
  • Volume: 12
  • Issue: 7
  • PageNo: 4972-4975
  • Abstract:
  • Electricity power theft poses a serious challenge to power utilities by causing substantial revenue losses and compromising the reliability of distribution networks. Conventional theft detection techniques mainly depend on manual inspections and periodic audits, which are inefficient and prone to human error. This paper presents a power theft detection system based on a Passive Infrared (PIR) motion sensor to identify unauthorized human activity around electricity meters. The proposed system continuously monitors the meter environment and detects abnormal motion indicative of tampering or illegal access. Upon detection, a microcontroller processes the sensor data and triggers immediate alerts through visual indicators and optional communication modules such as GSM or IoT platforms for remote monitoring. The proposed approach is low-cost, energy-efficient, and easy to deploy, making it suitable for residential and commercial installations. Experimental evaluation demonstrates that the system effectively detects meter tampering attempts in real time, thereby enhancing security and reducing power theft incidents in electricity distribution systems.

Copyright & License

Copyright © 2025 Authors retain the copyright of this article. This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

BibTeX

@article{189206,
        author = {Tejas Urs and Navyashree R and Neethashree A and Radhika Ramappa and Indu M},
        title = {Power Theft Detection Using PIR Motion Sensor},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2025},
        volume = {12},
        number = {7},
        pages = {4972-4975},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=189206},
        abstract = {Electricity power theft poses a serious challenge to power utilities by causing substantial revenue losses and compromising the reliability of distribution networks. Conventional theft detection techniques mainly depend on manual inspections and periodic audits, which are inefficient and prone to human error. This paper presents a power theft detection system based on a Passive Infrared (PIR) motion sensor to identify unauthorized human activity around electricity meters. The proposed system continuously monitors the meter environment and detects abnormal motion indicative of tampering or illegal access. Upon detection, a microcontroller processes the sensor data and triggers immediate alerts through visual indicators and optional communication modules such as GSM or IoT platforms for remote monitoring. The proposed approach is low-cost, energy-efficient, and easy to deploy, making it suitable for residential and commercial installations. Experimental evaluation demonstrates that the system effectively detects meter tampering attempts in real time, thereby enhancing security and reducing power theft incidents in electricity distribution systems.},
        keywords = {Electricity theft, Arduino, Current sensor, Voltage sensor, PIR sensor, GSM communication, IoT monitoring},
        month = {December},
        }

Cite This Article

  • ISSN: 2349-6002
  • Volume: 12
  • Issue: 7
  • PageNo: 4972-4975

Power Theft Detection Using PIR Motion Sensor

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