Patent ID: 7715176

Claim:
A power monitoring system for monitoring characteristics of power transmitted through one or more power lines, said power monitoring system comprising a meter base including a processor and associated circuitry for processing signals derived from sensors coupled to said power lines and producing output signals representing selected characteristics of said power transmitted through said power lines, and a housing containing said processor and said associated circuitry and having a first surface adapted to be mounted on a support, and a second surface containing multiple connectors for receiving multiple modules and electrically connecting said modules to said processor and said associated circuitry, and multiple option modules each of which includes a housing having a first surface containing a connector that is complementary with said multiple connectors in said second surface of said meter base so that any of said option modules can be plugged into any of said multiple connectors in said second surface of said meter base, and circuitry within said housing of each option module for interconnecting with said processor and said associated circuitry in said meter base, wherein said option modules include a display module for receiving said output signals and displaying said selected characteristics of said power transmitted through said power lines, said display including a display screen and associated circuitry for receiving said output signals, and a housing having a front surface surrounding said display screen, and a rear surface adapted to be mounted on a flat panel and containing a connector coupled to said circuitry associated with said display screen and mating with said display connector on said first surface of said meter module housing so that said metering module and said display can be mounted on opposite sides of the same panel and connected to each other through an aperture in said panel.