Hi, I just joined the forum as I am about to start my own home energy monitor project.
I saw some great information about using a CT clamp SCT-013-000 interfaced with an Arduino. (Learn | OpenEnergyMonitor)
The schematic suggests using a 9V AC/AC power adapter (along with resistors and a cap) to measure the voltage.
However the CT specs say, that using an ‘inbuilt resistor’ you can measure voltage and current directly from the CT clamp. (“Two form of output - current, voltage (voltage output built-in the sampling resistor)”)
So, is the 9V supply actually necessary, and can the voltage just be measured somehow from the CT as suggested?
How would it affect the schematic?
The “voltage” mentioned there is your mains voltage.
That refers to the voltage developed across the burden resistor. The voltage is applied to the ADC input of the 328 microcontroller and used to calculate the current flowing in the conductor the CT is clipped around.
The burden may be built into the CT, or external. CTs with an internal burden generate a voltage output.
An unburdened CT puts out current, and can be connected to an external burden that does the same thing an internal burden does, i.e generate a voltage.
Yes, if you want to measure real power. Without the 9 V AC-AC transformer, the measurement is only an approximation of apparent power.
No. As described above, it’s used to determine current.
The key is in the CT part number. The 000 portion of the SCT-013-000 CT part number denotes it’s an unburdened CT. i.e it has no internal burden, hence the build project is speaking about the resistor you’ll place on your breadboard.
