Marinas, campgrounds, and co-working spaces share a common challenge: managing electrical power distribution to individual tenants. Traditional metering is manual, billing is imprecise, and there is no way to cut off power when a prepaid balance runs out. Energy Backbone is a complete smart meter management solution that brings real-time consumption monitoring, prepaid wallet billing with automatic power cutoff, and an offline-capable gateway architecture to any location that needs granular energy management.

The Problem

Shared-space operators — whether managing a marina with 50 boat slips, a campground with seasonal visitors, or a co-working facility — face several interrelated problems with energy management:

  • No Real-Time Visibility: Operators cannot see how much power each tenant is consuming until the monthly meter reading
  • Billing Lag: Invoicing happens weeks after consumption, leading to disputes and uncollectable debts
  • No Prepaid Option: There is no mechanism to let tenants prepay and automatically manage their budget
  • Connectivity Gaps: Many locations (especially marinas and campgrounds) have unreliable internet, making cloud-only solutions impractical
  • Manual Intervention: Switching power on/off requires physical access to breakers or meters

When a boat owner leaves the marina owing three months of electricity, the operator has no recourse. Prepaid billing with automatic cutoff eliminates this problem entirely.

The Solution

Energy Backbone combines Tuya-compatible smart meters, a cloud management platform, and optional local Raspberry Pi gateways into a complete system. It supports two connection modes: Cloud Mode for locations with reliable internet (polling via Smart Life API every 3 minutes) and Gateway Mode for offline-capable operation (real-time readings every 5 seconds with background cloud sync).

The prepaid wallet system is the core innovation: tenants top up their balance via Stripe, Mollie, or bank transfer (with EPC QR code support), and the system automatically cuts power when the balance depletes. Low-balance notifications give tenants time to top up before cutoff.

Key Features

For Tenants

  • Dashboard — View balance, consumption overview, and alerts at a glance
  • Real-Time Monitoring — Live power (watts), voltage, current, and energy readings
  • Wallet Management — Top-up via multiple payment providers
  • Usage History — Detailed consumption charts and statistics over time
  • Notifications — Low balance and high consumption alerts

For Administrators

  • Location Management — Configure multiple locations with custom pricing per kWh
  • Remote Meter Control — Switch relays on/off from the admin panel
  • User Management — Manage tenants and assign meters to individuals
  • Gateway Monitoring — Track gateway status, connectivity, and sync health
  • Billing Overview — Transaction logs, revenue reports, and financial summaries
  • Data Backfill — Recover historical data from the Tuya cloud automatically

Technical Capabilities

  • Dual Connection Modes — Cloud API polling or local gateway with real-time readings
  • Automatic Gap Detection — Identifies and backfills missing data points
  • Budget Monitoring — Cuts power when wallet balance reaches zero
  • Offline Operation — Gateway continues metering and enforcing cutoffs without internet
  • Data Aggregation — Compresses high-frequency readings for long-term storage

Looking Ahead

Energy Backbone addresses a real gap in the market for small-to-medium facility operators who need smart metering without enterprise complexity. By combining IoT hardware (Tuya smart meters), modern web technology, and a thoughtful offline-first gateway architecture, it delivers a solution that works reliably in environments where internet connectivity cannot be taken for granted. The prepaid wallet model transforms energy from a billing headache into a self-service system that benefits both operators and tenants.