Context
Renewalytics is a renewable energy SaaS company based in Pune serving solar and wind power plants across India. The platform handles production forecasting, scheduling, energy trading, DSM analytics, billing, and BESS management. As the Lead Software Engineer, I own the technical architecture and build the systems from the ground up.
The Two Platforms
Reflux, Forecasting & Operations
The operational backbone for renewable energy forecasting and scheduling. It handles forecast revisions, scheduling workflows, reporting automation, and government portal integrations.
- 3400+ MW capacity under management across multiple renewable portfolios
- Cron-based automation for daily report generation and data pipelines
- Government portal integrations for regulatory compliance and reporting
- Operational workflows for forecasting revisions, deviation management, and scheduling
CMS, DSM Analytics & BESS Management
The customer-facing energy management platform for DSM analytics, billing workflows, BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) management, and agreement management.
- DSM analytics for demand-side management reporting and visualization
- Billing workflows for energy billing, invoicing, and financial reporting
- BESS management for battery storage monitoring, control, and optimization
- Agreement management for contracts, SLAs, and compliance tracking
- Operational dashboards for real-time visibility into plant operations
What I Built
Core Architecture
- Full-stack application with Next.js frontend, REST APIs, and background job processing
- Dual-database architecture: PostgreSQL for relational data and MongoDB for flexible document storage
- Docker containerized services behind Nginx for production deployment
- Prisma ORM for type-safe database interactions with PostgreSQL
Automation Systems
- Cron-based pipelines for daily operational reports across 33+ plants
- Automated data ingestion from government energy portals
- Scheduled report generation and distribution workflows
- Excel file parsing and multi-sheet report processing
Analytics & Dashboards
- DSM analytics dashboards with real-time energy data visualization
- BESS monitoring dashboards for battery storage systems
- Forecast accuracy tracking and deviation analysis
- Operational KPI dashboards for plant performance
Customer-Facing Portal
- Modern dashboard built with Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui
- Role-based access control for different user types
- Agreement and billing management interfaces
- Report download and export functionality
Stack
- Next.js + TypeScript, Frontend application and API routes
- PostgreSQL, Relational data (plant configs, users, agreements)
- MongoDB, Document storage (reports, telemetry snapshots)
- Prisma ORM, Type-safe database access layer
- Docker, Containerized microservices
- Tailwind CSS + shadcn/ui, UI framework
- Nginx, Reverse proxy and load balancing
Outcomes
- Scaled platform to serve 3,400+ MW of renewable energy capacity
- Automated 30+ daily reports across 33+ plants
- Eliminated manual data entry for government portal submissions
- Built and shipped DSM analytics and BESS management from zero
- Customer portal serving multiple renewable energy companies
Lessons
Operational software for the energy industry requires deep understanding of domain workflows. Building these two platforms taught me that the best systems are invisible, operators don't think about the software, they think about their plants. The cron pipelines, the automated reports, the dashboard that loads in under 2 seconds, these are the features that matter.