Electricity
Electricity is the most instrumented utility on the platform. The Nova meter reads it at billing accuracy, every figure that sets your bill or shows the health of your supply.
1 · What we measure
Every figure below is a direct meter reading, taken at the supply point rather than worked back from a monthly total. The Nova meter records all of them at the incomer and at each sub-meter, so the same readings are available at every level of a site, and across every site in a portfolio, on one platform.
They fall into three groups: how much energy you use, how hard the supply is working at any moment, and the health of the supply itself.
| Reading | Unit | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Active energy | kWh | The energy you actually use. Most of the bill is built on it. |
| Reactive energy | kVArh | Energy that does no useful work but still loads the network. It's the root of poor power factor. |
| Real power | kW | The power doing useful work at any given moment. |
| Apparent power | kVA | Real and reactive power together, the total the supply has to carry. |
| Maximum demand | kVA | The highest half-hour average in the billing period. It sets your demand charge, and is what a Notified Maximum Demand (NMD) ceiling is measured against. |
| Power factor | ratio | Real power divided by apparent power (kW ÷ kVA). 1.0 is ideal; below it, your kVA and the charges based on it climb. |
| Voltage | V | On each of the three phases. Dips and imbalance point to faults and wasted capacity. |
| Current | A | On each phase. An imbalance across the phases stresses equipment. |
| Frequency | Hz | Measured continuously, as a read on grid stability. |
Because these readings are measured rather than modelled, they can be checked against the utility's bill line by line in Bill verification, and any consumption a sub-meter isn't capturing shows up as a measured gap in Consumption breakdown rather than being quietly absorbed into an estimate.
2 · How it's measured
Electricity is read by the Nova meter, a three-phase smart meter that clamps onto your existing supply with current transformers. Split-core current transformers are available, so a site can be metered with minimal disruption.
The meter is type-approved to Class 0.5S, the accuracy grade used for revenue and tariff billing, and every unit is calibrated traceable to South Africa's national measurement standards. A random tenth of each batch is independently calibrated at a SANAS-accredited laboratory before it ships. Readings come back over the meter's own cellular link, so there's nothing to wire into your network. And because it draws power from the supply it's reading, the meter can report at high resolution, down to one-minute intervals.
That resolution is what makes the readings useful. A demand peak or a voltage dip lasts seconds to minutes, and only high-resolution metering catches it. A reading taken once a day would average it away, and with it the very events that drive your demand charge or point to a fault.
3 · Hardware
The electricity hardware is all our own:
- Nova meter, the permanent three-phase meter that reads it, at billing accuracy.
- Powertrack, a portable three-phase logger for a temporary load study.
- Qualitrack, a portable single-phase logger for a power-quality survey.
4 · Reports it feeds
Every electricity report is built from these readings:
- Dashboard and Consumption breakdown, for consumption and demand at a glance and across the hierarchy.
- Cost breakdown and Bill verification, where the readings are priced against your tariff and checked against the bill.
- Time of use and Tariff comparison, for when you used energy and what a different tariff would cost.
- Power factor & demand, for the demand peaks and what poor power factor adds to them.
- Technical analysis and Data download, for the per-phase voltage, current and power in full.
5 · Extracting the data
Every electricity reading is yours to take off the platform, three ways:
- API, to pull readings live into your own systems.
- AI-ready data & exports, a structured payload a model or agent can read directly.
- File export, the same readings as a plain file in the format you need.
6 · Common questions
Is the electricity data accurate enough for billing?
Yes. The Nova meter is type-approved to Class 0.5S, the accuracy grade used for revenue and tariff billing, and every unit is calibrated traceable to South Africa's national measurement standards (NMISA). A random sample of each batch is independently calibrated at a SANAS-accredited laboratory before it ships.
How disruptive is metering my site?
Minimal. The meter clamps onto your existing supply with current transformers, with split-core CTs available, and is fitted by a qualified electrician as part of normal switchboard work.
How often is the electricity read?
Down to one-minute intervals. The meter draws power from the supply it's reading, so it isn't limited by a battery, and it sends readings back over its own cellular link with nothing to wire into your network.
Do you measure power quality and harmonics?
The standard readings include per-phase voltage, current and frequency. Full power-quality detail, harmonic distortion (THD) and the individual harmonics, is captured where a power-quality logger such as the Qualitrack is fitted alongside the meter. It's worth doing on sensitive or heavily loaded supplies, where distortion wears equipment over time.
What's the difference between kVA and kW, and why does it matter?
kW is the power doing useful work; kVA is the total the supply has to carry, including the reactive part that does no work. The ratio between them is your power factor. When power factor is poor, kVA climbs above kW, and because demand charges are billed on kVA, you pay for capacity you aren't turning into useful work. Power factor and demand quantifies that gap and what it costs.
What is maximum demand, and how does it affect my bill?
Maximum demand is the highest half-hour average drawn in the billing period, measured in kVA. It sets your demand charge, and it's the figure a Notified Maximum Demand (NMD) ceiling is measured against; exceed the ceiling and the supplier adds a penalty. Time of use and Power factor and demand both show where those peaks fall.