An IoT Solution for Real-Time Energy Generation and Usage Monitoring Delivered in 5 Months
About the Client
The Client is an international nonprofit organization that works in the fields of nature conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources. It has member organizations in nearly 30 countries across several continents.
Optimizing Green Energy Usage
The Client wanted to switch its offices to alternative energy sources and needed a solution to monitor energy usage and help optimize it. Lacking in-house IT competencies, the Client sought a reliable IT consulting company to design and develop the solution.
An IoT-Based Solution for Real-Time Energy Generation and Usage Monitoring
Owing to INNERLUXES's 30+ years in software development, experience in IT consulting services, and a vast portfolio of successful projects, the Client chose INNERLUXES as its IT partner. INNERLUXES provided a cross-functional team: a project manager, an IoT consultant, a solution architect, a hardware consultant, a .NET developer, and a QA specialist.
Solution planning
INNERLUXES interviewed the Client's stakeholders and employees and analyzed their needs in detail. Based on the results, the team introduced a clear concept of the future IoT-based solution, including:
- A requirements specification document with mapped-out and prioritized features.
- The optimal architecture and tech stack. INNERLUXES suggested a microservices architecture to guarantee easy scalability, high performance, and exceptional fault tolerance.
- A plan for the necessary integrations of hardware (IoT sensors) and software parts.
IoT-based MVP delivery
To quickly assess the benefits of the concept without huge financial investment, INNERLUXES suggested building an MVP based on ThingsBoard, an open-source platform for IoT data collection, processing, and visualization. The team chose ThingsBoard over other cloud-based IoT platforms for its high scalability and deep, extensive customization capabilities. It was agreed with the Client to deliver an IoT-based solution for one office first. The solution was to gather data from about 50 energy generators and consumers, analyze it, and present detailed real-time information about energy generation and usage. The solution could later be rolled out to other offices and evolved — for example, adding ML capabilities.
Finding the right sensors. The hardware consultant researched the optimal IoT sensors, shortlisted vendors, and arranged the supplies.
Data processing pipeline design and implementation. INNERLUXES built and tested an IoT data processing solution based on ThingsBoard, MongoDB, Akka, and a custom message broker. The pipeline handled HTTP and MQTT protocols and multiple data formats. The custom message broker acted as a middleman between the devices and ThingsBoard; in addition to ensuring loose coupling, it handled data validation and merging.
Data visualization. INNERLUXES configured dashboards for IoT data visualization. The dashboards enabled a comprehensive view (historical and real-time) of the electricity generated and used by all devices and by each device separately.
The Client Got Control of Its Energy Consumption
In just five months after its initial request, the Client got an IoT-based MVP to meet its specific needs in controlling energy generation and consumption. Users could easily understand the efficiency of energy generators, see which appliances were the primary power guzzlers, monitor and understand usage patterns, and make informed decisions on appliance usage to maximize energy savings. For example, with the new solution, the Client was able to recognize and understand the root cause of repetitive electrical short circuits.
Technologies and Tools
.NET 6, MongoDB, Akka, Angular.js, ThingsBoard.