The goal was to design a cost effective whole house energy meter for North America that could easily be integrated with the popular ESP8266, ESP32 or any other MCU with an SPI interface., then wirelessly transmit that energy usage data into programs like EmonCMS.
A number of different solutions already exist, but at a high cost. Some are upwards of $300! While these solutions are all in one packages, the cost off the additional components (Current transformers, AC transformer, and MCU) needed to make this energy meter work properly is still far less.