Energy-Community SaaS Prototype

Problem

A young cleantech company wanted to offer software for managing energy communities and shared renewable energy systems. It needed a first working version to show that the idea worked and to start building the product on.

Approach

• I built the first prototype of the software as a service platform.
• I built it as a developer at the agency that worked for the client, and I kept maintaining it after the first version.
• I worked with the client directly on what the first version had to do.

Architecture and design decisions

• I built the prototype in Node.js.
• I made it a full system, with the part users see and the part that runs behind it, so the client had something to try and not only a design.

Outcomes

• The client got a working prototype of its platform for energy communities and shared renewable energy systems.
• The prototype helped the client launch its product.

Known gaps

• I have no numbers on how many users, communities or energy systems the prototype handled.
• I do not describe the data model, the hosting or how the platform dealt with energy data.
• The page does not say how much of my prototype is still in the product today. I only built the first version.
• I do not cover security, performance or uptime.