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Flows Platform Overview

Flows is a comprehensive meter data management platform designed for prepayment electricity meters in microgrids and energy communities. It provides real-time meter communication, consumption tracking, tariff management, and data aggregation capabilities.

What is Flows?​

Flows is the core data platform that:

  • Manages Emlite prepayment meter configurations and communications
  • Collects and stores half-hourly consumption data
  • Handles tariff updates and prepayment token processing
  • Provides APIs for meter operations and data access
  • Aggregates consumption data by circuit, property, and site

Architecture Overview​

Key Concepts​

Meters​

Prepayment electricity meters (primarily Emlite) that measure consumption and manage customer credit. Each meter has:

  • One or two registers (Element A/B for dual-rate tariffs)
  • Prepayment balance and emergency credit
  • Active and future tariff configurations
  • Real-time communication via 4G/network

Registers​

Measurement points within a meter that track:

  • Import (consumption) readings
  • Export (generation) readings for solar
  • Half-hourly interval data
  • Direction reversal configuration

Circuits​

Logical groupings of electrical loads:

  • Power: Standard electrical circuits
  • Heat: Heat pump or heating circuits
  • Solar: Solar generation circuits

Service Heads​

Physical electrical connection points that:

  • Connect properties to the distribution network
  • Link meters to properties
  • Define the electrical topology

ESCOs​

Energy Service Companies that operate microgrids:

  • Manage groups of meters and properties
  • Define tariff structures
  • Handle billing and customer relationships

Platform Components​

1. Database (TimescaleDB)​

  • Time-series optimized PostgreSQL
  • Stores meter readings, events, and configurations
  • Provides views for data aggregation
  • Handles high-frequency interval data

2. Flows CLI Tools (simt-emlite)​

  • emop - Direct meter operations via EMOP protocol
  • mediators - Manage communication servers
  • Python package for programmatic access
  • Reliable 4G/network communication

3. APIs​

  • PostgREST for RESTful database access
  • RPC functions for complex operations
  • Real-time data synchronization
  • Authentication and authorization

4. Data Processing​

  • Automated sync jobs
  • Interval data aggregation
  • Tariff update workflows
  • Health monitoring

Use Cases​

  • Meter Operations: Read consumption, update tariffs, send tokens
  • Data Analysis: Query historical consumption, generate reports
  • Monitoring: Track meter health, detect issues
  • Integration: Build applications using the API
  • Billing Support: Access consumption data for billing calculations

Next Steps​