Community Checkins

• Previous Meetings Recorded
• NFE Checkin - 16/05/2025
• NFE Checkin - 23/05/2025
• NFE Checkin - 30/05/2025
• NFE Checkin - 06/06/2025
• NFE Checkin - 20/06/2025
• NFE Checkin - June 24th 2025
• NFE <> EnAccess Checkin
• NFE Checkin - July 4th 2025
• NFE Checkin - July 9th 2025
• NFE Checkin 11/7/2025
• NFE Checkin 18/7/2025
• NFE checkin 26/07/2025
• NFE <> Power for All - July 31st 2025
• NFE checkin 02/08/2025
• NFE Mid week 08/06/2025
• NFE Checkin 8/8/2025
• NFE / SLS Energy / Energy IoT -intro meeting
• NFE Checkin 03/08/2025
• NFE checkin August 30th 2025
• NFE Checkin - Sept 6th 2025
• NFE Weekly Checkin September 13th 2025
• NFE Weekly Checkin September 19th 2025
• NFE Mid week Checkin September 25th 2025
• NFE weekly checkin October 11th 2025
• NFE Weekly - October 18th 2025
• NFE Weekly Checkin - October 25th 2025
• NFE Weekly Checkin - Nov 1st 2025
• NFE Weekly Checkin - Nov 15th 2025
• NFE Checkin - Jan 7th 2026
• NFE weekly checkin - Jan 22nd 2026
• NFE weekly checkin - Jan 29th 2026
• NFE Checkin - Feb 6th 2026
• NFE checkin - Feb 12 2026
• NFE Weekly Checkin - March 21 2026
• NFE Tech Huddle - April 3rd 2026
• Nfe Weekly checkin - 4th April 2026
• Tech Huddle - Behind the Meter Connection for each customer
• NFE Checkin - 11th April 2026
• NFE Checkin - May 16th 2026
• NFE Checkin - May 23rd 2026
• EnAccess <> NFE Checkin - June 2nd 2026
• NFE checkin - June 6th 2026
• NFE Mid week checkin - June 11th
• Hillary / Aaron - Tech Huddle - June 29th 2026
• NFE Checkin - July 4th 2026

Previous Meetings Recorded

 

• NFE Checkin 10/04/2025
• NFE Checkin 17/04/2025
• NFE Checkin 25/04/2025
• NFE Checkin 02/05/2025
• Meeting with Uzuzi Meter Supplier 07/05/2025

 

 

NFE Checkin - 16/05/2025

Agenda 

• Metering Evaluation review 
  
• Pearl Marina Proposal Review 
  
• Company tools Demos 
  
  • Element (Matrix) 
    
  • Kimai (Time tracking) 
    
  • NextCloud (Calendar and Email) 
    
  • Bookstack (Team Documentation) 

Action items 

• Prepare Fundraising update for next meeting - Aaron
  
• Ordering meters from Top 3 providers - Aaron 
  
• Need to locate manual for China Brandless meter - Dansturn 
  
• Nansana Site inspection Open questions for next meeting - Dansturn 
  
  • Find out process for requesting/applying for bulk/sub meter from Umeme 
    

NFE Checkin - 23/05/2025

• Payment System Evaluation
• Design of Sezibwa Rentals Microgrid 
  • Need to a separate switch to turn Umeme on/off
  • May need bypass on the inverter too for maintainance 
  • How much last gasp mechanism does the Lora Gateway come with
  • How about meters? What happens before and after power goes off
  • Materials 
    • Meters + Lora Gateway 
    • Wiring 
    • Cabinet 
    • Umeme switch on/off - circuit breaker 
    • Civil works - cement 
• No demos of company tools, keeping it short because Hillary has a hard stop (1.5 hours)

Action items 

• Set up payment page - Aaron
• Follow up on shopping for materials - Dansturn 
• Update micro design from notes above - Aaron 
• Inventory management - How do we keep track of hardware we have - Aaron to propose something 

NFE Checkin - 30/05/2025

Agenda 

• Payment Processor demo
• AMI demo 
  • CalinAMI 
  • MicroPowerManager 
• Other collaboration tools 
  • dashboard 
  • calcom
  • Kimia 
• BOQ for locally sourced items 
• Physical layout for Sezibwa Rentals Microgrid 

Action items 

• Pesapal - How to process refunds - Aaron 
• Check on when money is received on the bank account  - Aaron 
• What is the process of becoming a 3 phase (bulk metering) customer - Dansturn 
  • Include how payments are made 
  • What does UMEME reclaim/own? 
    • Meters? 
    • Circuit breakers?
    • Wiring?
• BOQ feedback - Dansturn  
  • Confirm that meter is for Code 10.2 not Code 20 
  • Resize PDU (we need one for 10 meters) 
  • Compare both suppliers instead combining and present both 

NFE Checkin - 06/06/2025

Agenda 

• AMI demo 
  • CalinAMI 
  • MicroPowerManager 
• Other collaboration tools 
  • dashboard 
  • calcom
  • Kimai
• Company Board and Structure updates 
• Fundraising Updates 

Action items 

• • Ownership model - Aaron to present this next week
• Upload documents to Element/Bookstack - Dansturn  
  • Layout of Sezibwa rentals 
  • BOQ excel 

6/13/2025

Updates and Action items

- Dansturn

• Purchase the PDU in which to put the meters in the course of next week
• complete the BOQ Excel with new revisions
• Receive the meters that arrived from China
• Application for 3 phase commercial from uedcl
• Aaron
  • fundraising update to be discussed next week.
  • Collaboration tools to be discussed next week.

• Expectations for next week
  • MicroPowerManager 
    

NFE Checkin - 20/06/2025

Agenda 

Operation Updates 

• How to apply for Three Phase connection
• BOQ updates for Sezibwa Rentals 

Fundraising updates 

• We are tracking our finances on open collective.
• Phase 1: Sezibwa Rentals - funding status 
• Fundraising efforts - Tracker

Other collaboration tools 

• dashboard 
• calcom

MicroPower Manager - 

• Toggling Calinmeter on/off in progress
• Adding Calinmeters via LoraWAN gateway - In analysis

Action Items 

• Documentation that shows the relationship between the client (Sezibwa Rentals) and NFE. - Aaron can provide MOU 
• Examples of Postpaid Bills - Hillary + Dansturn  
  • Code 10.2 to Code 50
• Load Schedule for Sezibwa Rentals - Aaron + Hillary
• Confirm that the 10.2 meter come with in built phase selector or if we need a phase selector - Dansturn 
• Meeting early next week 

 

NFE Checkin - June 24th 2025

Action items 

• Power bank for Gateway - Aaron 
• Padlocks for gateway - Aaron 
• Set up Calinmeters and Gateway - Dansturn
• Conference list needs compiling - Aaron 

NFE <> EnAccess Checkin

Attendees 

• Aaron Tushabe - NFE
• Vivien - EnAccess 
• Daniel - EnAccess 

Meeting link:  https://meet.google.com/rpg-vpmw-zzh

Agenda 

• Introductions
• Expectations for NFE using EnAccess provided MPM instance for Sezibwa Rentals Pilot 
  • Daniel: For transparency: We haven't yet had the time to fully clarify and conceptionalise our ToS for MPM, w.r.t SLA/SLO/Uptime promises/Data security, but also pricing to cover the infrastructure costs etc... As a result we currently provide the MPM cloud service this "as-is".
  • Aaron: This is understood and when we are successful with the pilot, we'd like to collaborate on the posibility of agreeing on some Terms of Service or setting up NFE's self hosted instance. I think the community needs an instance to quickly evaluate MPM cheaply and quickly so I'd prefer we collaborate on improving the cloud.mpm.io experience more production ready for new joiners. 
• Support with Regular Community Calls on MPM/EnAccess projects/materials 
  • Let's talk about how I can help, I have ideas but I some questions first
    • Who do you recommend I pair with on this one. I am of the view that initiatives are more resilient if we have more than one human co-owning it so I'd like to have someone I pair with to get this going. I can reach out to Thulie add see if she's up for it 
    • Anything that has been tried in the past that I should consider before proposing something? 
• NFE overview 
  • I have a pitch deck I keep refining  and our bylaws share more about our ownership model

Notes 

Quick summary

During this meeting, Aaron, Vivien, and Daniel discussed the Nearly Free Energy mini-grid project, the history and current status of the Microgrid Power Manager (MPM) software, challenges related to community adoption and technical implementation, and potential collaboration on pilot deployment and funding sustainability.

Action items for Aaron

• Test and finalize the connection of the newly arrived smart meters with the existing LoRa gateway and the MPM system by the end of the week.
• Reach out to Truly (community manager at EnAccess) to plan the first collaborative call focusing on MPM pilot.
• Share detailed documentation of Nearly Free Energy’s funding model and business plans with Vivien and Daniel.
• Investigate and propose any feature improvements or integration needed for MPM to support Nearly Free Energy’s pilot.
• Continue applying for grants to sustain Nearly Free Energy operations and explore co-application opportunities with EnAccess.

Action items for Vivien

• Provide continued onboarding and support for Aaron on the MPM platform and relevant documentation.
• Facilitate coordination between Aaron and Truly for community engagement and calls.
• Share more detailed information about EnAccess’s current funding, support structure, and pricing policy as it develops.
• Invite relevant stakeholders from REA Nigeria and Cameroon to join the community discussions and pilot support.
• Assist in documenting prospective features and integrations for MPM in the public GitHub repository.

Action items for Daniel

• Support Aaron with technical guidance on MPM setup, infrastructure reliability, and data backup processes.
• Monitor and assist with troubleshooting any compatibility issues between smart meters and MPM, especially regarding Colleen meters.
• Ensure automated database backups are working effectively on the cloud infrastructure used for the pilot.
• Help Aaron with understanding MPM functionalities, feature limitations, and contribute to the software documentation.
• Participate in community management activities and support onboarding efforts for new users like Aaron.

 

NFE Checkin - July 4th 2025

Agenda 

• Sezibwa rentals BOQ review 
  • Open Questions 
  • How we are funding it
    • NFE will fund it 
    • Kimbowas will contribute 1k to NFE 
    • Arinda will contribute 1k to NFE 
    • Open Collective NFE account
• Calinmeter AMI Testing results review 
  • Outstanding issues 
• Code 10 application 
  • Code 10 bills 
• Github issues on Micropower Manager 
• Meeting with Vivien 

Action items 

• Submit Contributions by tomorrow: Dansturn + Arinda 
• Find remaining balance for Sezibwa rentals: Aaron 
• Submit expenses for Sezibwa Rentals to Open Collective: Dansturn + Aaron 
• Follow up with Scott on
  • Last month meter reading feature: Arinda
  • Needed to retry commands a couple of times, why?: Arinda 
• Build PDU and deploy next week: Dansturn 
• Code 10 Application: Aaron

NFE Checkin - July 9th 2025

Agenda 

- 

NFE Checkin 11/7/2025

Agenda 

• Review of Last week's Action items
• Review of progress on PDU setup 
• Discuss next steps concerning the power application.

Review of Last week's Action items 

• Submit Contributions by tomorrow: Dansturn + Arinda == Done
• Find remaining balance for Sezibwa rentals: Aaron === Aaron to update
• Submit expenses for Sezibwa Rentals to Open Collective: Dansturn + Aaron == Pending, Dansturn will submit receipts by Monday 
• Follow up with Scott on
  • Last month meter reading feature: Arinda == Scott hasnt been responsive. Follow up more
  • Needed to retry commands a couple of times, why?: Arinda == Has dependency on Scott, pending
• Build PDU and deploy next week: Dansturn == work in progress. to be done by Monday
• Code 10 Application: Aaron ==. Aaron to update when he wakes up

Action items for this week

• Complete meter assembly in the PDU by Monday 14th July == Dansturn
• Add stands and secure lock on the PDU and deliver to site by Monday 14th July == Dansturn
• Pull ABC (1 span) to the proposed service point. By Next meeting == Dansturn
• Push connection application in tandem with the pending PDU works == Dansturn
• Follow up Scott again === Hillary

NFE Checkin 18/7/2025

Agenda 

• Sezibwa Homes Phase 1 - Deployment Blockers
  • New CODE 10 application - I tried applying here but I need a Cert Number
  • PDU Deployment Pictures 
• Communication with Scott: Still unresponsive? 
• Funding Updates 
  • Sezibwa Homes Phase 2 - 5k grant pledged by Energy IoT open source
  • Expense submissions 

Action items 

• Submit all outstanding expenses for Phase 1 - Dansturn
• Provide Cert Number for Code 10 application (6890377606518) - Dansturn 
• Share deployment photography on Bookstack
• Customer contact information collected - Aaron 
• Complete service cable installations - Dansturn 
• Share Recoverable grant funding agreement with Team on - Aaron 
• Checkin with Scott - Hillary

NFE checkin 26/07/2025

Agenda 

Previous action items 

• Provide Cert Number for Code 10 application (6890377606518) - Dansturn 
• Share deployment photography on Bookstack
• Customer contact information collected - Aaron 
• Complete service cable installations - Dansturn 
• Share Recoverable grant funding agreement with Team on - Aaron 
• Checkin with Scott - Hillary

New items to discuss

• Demo 
  • Self serve portal for UEDCL 
  • Application approved notice 
  • Recoverable grant agreement Template
  • Pictorial Phase 1
  • Dansturn meeting with Vivien follow ups 
• Issues for Sezibwa Homes
  • Umeme Meter box installed outside fence - is this an issue 
  • Calin AMI bugs - can we launch with them
• Next steps 
  • Capture customer names and contacts - assign meters 
    
  • Umeme billing portal - How will be get our monthly bill and how are we expected to pay

Action items 

• Submit all outstanding expenses for Phase 1 - Dansturn
• Customer contact information collected - Aaron 
• Complete service cable installations - Dansturn 
• Schedule follow-up call with Vivien - Aaron 
• Autarky (Titiana) Follow-up call - Aaron 
• How to collect data from Chint three phase meter - Aaron/Dansturn

NFE <> Power for All - July 31st 2025

Had a meet and great with Joel, Alba and Sumaya from power for all. 

They shared plenty of questions and feedback on our model. Here's some resources they shared that I am following up on. 

• https://www.ze-gen.org/about-ze-gen/ - TBD
• https://a2ei.org/  Working on an open smart meter we could use. Downloaded their data here and will reach out to Thomas about an open smart meter
• Oddessy - Battery vendor who may be able to help us with phase 2 
• Band

I invited them to join our advisory team. 

NFE checkin 02/08/2025

Agenda 

Action items from last week

• Submit all outstanding expenses for Phase 1 - Dansturn
• Customer contact information collected - Aaron 
  • Done. Entered here and in Calin AMI
• Complete service cable installations - Dansturn 
  • We have an extra home instead of the boys quoter 
• Schedule follow-up call with Vivien - Aaron 
• Autarky (Titiana) Follow-up call - Aaron 
• How to collect data from Chint three phase meter - Aaron/Dansturn 
  • Made some progress, it's seeming too costly to get a calin meter that will measure this load, they want to sell us more than just the meter 

New items 

• Fundraising updates, check the tracker 
  • Energy IoT and battery + inverter donations 
    • They have a battery (20kwh) for us but we need to ship it in from USA 
    • She has an inverter for us, it's an 8kw inverter though 
    • She will be drafting an MOU to communicate what EIoT needs out of this engagement
  • Applying for an EU grant (100k to 250k Euros) with EnAccess + Another company 
• Business development 
  • Published a tracker for potential customers, I will be following up on those next week. 
• Setting up MicroPower Manager
  • Still running into some issues that I am sharing with EnAccess on Discord. We will launch without it and enable it later
• Updates from Location in Nansana 
  • Meter should have been installed 
  • We are using UEDCL downstream breakers 
  • We will not use the customer's solido 
  • Safety risk if the solido is live - we need to terminate it - how?
• Calin AMI open issues 

New Action items 

• Submit all outstanding expenses for Phase 1 - Dansturn
• Collect National IDs for all customers 
• Complete service cable installations - Dansturn
• Follow up on shipping battery and inverter to Uganda by October - Aaron 

NFE Mid week 08/06/2025

Agenda 

• Site layout review

Action items 

• Review cost pf phase selectors and see if we can add them to phase 1.1- Dansturn 
• Provide meter reference - Dansturn 
• Reach out to our UEDCL connections - Hillary | Dansturn | Aaron 

NFE Checkin 8/8/2025

Agenda 

Action items  from Last Week

• Review cost of phase selectors and see if we can add them to phase 1.1- Dansturn 
  • to be shared.
• Provide meter reference - Dansturn 
  • This was provided
• Reach out to our UEDCL connections - Hillary | Dansturn | Aaron 
  •  Meter paid for by Aaron. No meters currently. check meter proposed. Action item still active

New updates

• Hopetelle meters arrived yesterday 7/8/2025 - 10 meters plus their DCU

New Actions items

• Reach out to our UEDCL connections - Hillary | Dansturn | Aaron
• Review cost of phase selectors and see if we can add them to phase 1.1- Dansturn 
• Suggestion to power the PDU with one of the existing power sources.- Aaron
• Get in touch with Hopetelle team about connecting meters to AMI, etc - Aaron
• Set up around 5 meters with a DCU as we await AMI communication - Dansturn
• Accountability for the money used for 3 phase extension and installation Umeme meter box, meter - Dansturn | Aaron

NFE / SLS Energy / Energy IoT -intro meeting

Quick summary

During this meeting, Arila, Merci, Léandre, and Aaron discussed a collaboration on an open-source microgrid project in Uganda, focusing on battery storage solutions, battery-as-a-service models, and integration with open-source energy management systems. They explored technical specifications, cost models, and operational challenges related to battery backup, grid outages, and energy trading platforms. The participants also considered opportunities for mentorship programs and local community involvement to support sustainable energy solutions.

Action items for Arila

• Facilitate the sharing of open-source hardware and software specifications (e.g., open BMS, hi-fi APIS) with Aaron and Léandre for integration and testing.
• Share a diagram of the submetring panel and energy management setup with Léandre and Aaron.
• Coordinate engagement with local universities and mentorship programs to involve students in the energy projects.
• Support defining the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will outline the pilot project's scope and transition to commercial stages.
• Monitor progress and provide sponsorship funding for battery storage for the pilot project starting by October.

Action items for Léandre

• Provide detailed battery data sheets and specifications for the 48V 2.5 kWh and 5 kWh systems to Aaron and Arila via email.
• Clarify and confirm the service pricing structure and cost model with Aaron for the pilot microgrid project in Uganda.
• Share information about current battery monitoring systems and explore integration with open-source BMS and EMS solutions.
• Assist in logistics and regulatory requirements for shipping batteries within East Africa, especially Uganda and Rwanda.
• Engage in discussions to define the terms of collaboration and commercial agreements related to battery-as-a-service.
• Consider sharing technology and expertise for the semi-mobile irrigation battery systems as a potential learning case.

Action items for Aaron

• Share detailed data on current microgrid capacity, battery needs, and outage patterns for community planning.
• Provide feedback on battery service pricing and integration from Nearly Free Energy's perspective.
• Collaborate with Léandre and Arila to develop a pilot project plan aiming to start battery deployment by October.
• Facilitate contact with local community partners and potentially local universities for mentorship and project support.
• Share research and documentation on grid outage causes and tariff structures with Léandre and Arila.
• Maintain communications with Léandre and Arila to define the Memorandum of Understanding and commercial framework.

NFE Checkin 03/08/2025

Agenda

• Reach out to our UEDCL connections - Hillary | Dansturn | Aaron
• Review cost of phase selectors and see if we can add them to phase 1.1- Dansturn 
• Suggestion to power the PDU with one of the existing power sources.- Aaron
• Get in touch with Hopetelle team about connecting meters to AMI, etc - Aaron
• Set up around 5 meters with a DCU as we await AMI communication - Dansturn
• Accountability for the money used for 3 phase extension and installation Umeme meter box, meter - Dansturn | Aaron
  
• Fundraising updates 
• Battery research updates 
• Lisencing updates, working with Sam Kizito 

Notes

Action items 

• Have a mid week checkin on Wednesday to confirm whether we can connect direcrtly - Aaron
• Review Hopetele documents to prepare for test connection next Saturday - Hillary 
• Update Potential customer tracker with new leads - Hillary
• Apply Certificate of Registration - Aaron

NFE checkin August 30th 2025

Attendees 

• Dansturn
• Dismas - Green Volta Engineer 
• Aaron 

Agenda 

• Going live in Sezibwa Microgrid
• CIUs - do we need them

Notes 

• Dismas: Cables were laid to the Main house, R2 and R3. Connection to R3 was attempted and Meter input voltage was ~220V but output voltage was ~ zero. 
• Dansturn: Aaron are the relays on
• Aaron: No, looks like they are off, I did not realize that their default state was off 
• Dansturn: Dismas can you share photos of how you connected R3 for review 
• Dismas: I did not take photos, I can go back and take photos today 
• Dansturn: We need to always take photos, Dismas please make a check list so that you don't forget again 
• Aaron: I can be available all morning to turn on meters 
• Dansturn: CIUs, do we need to connect them 
• Aaron: I don't think so, the CUIs seem to have no use in a postpaid billing world but Hillary thinks customers can use them to check monthly usage but not sure how yet. We may need them later for regulatory purposes but for now, we don't need to install them. 
• Communication with Customers is in Progress: We shared this overview with them 2 days ago and NFE whatsapp account joined the whatsapp group of the neighborhood to help answer any questions. https://app.simplenote.com/p/tdKJBq
• VAT registration (and PAYE) was completed this week. 

Action Items 

• Dismas to return on site today and turn on at least 3 houses, Aaron will be available for remote access. Dansturn will be available to confirm physical connection design
• Hillary to investigate how we can use CUIs 

NFE Checkin - Sept 6th 2025

Going live - any blockers and questions 

• How can we tell if UEDCL power is off?
  • Check the gateway? 
  • Let's ask Calimeter 

Action items 

• Get in touch with Dismas on going live today -Aaron 
• Find out from Scott about how to change the low voltage cut off - Hillary 

 

 

NFE Weekly Checkin September 13th 2025

Agenda 

• Fundraising Updates and requests for review
  
• We are live: What next?
  • Operation strategy 
  • Data analytics and reports: how do we take advantage of this 
  • How can we tell if UEDCL power is off?
    • Gateway status will tell us
  • Yaka units
• Retrospective on deployment
  • What went well
  • What did not go so well 
  • Things we can approve 
    
• Phase 1.1:
  • Do we need a new AMI
  • Low voltage on some phases 
  • 3 phase meter smart meter for UEDCL connection
• Game plan for Phase 2 
• New team members: Nickson 
• Updates from LF Energy in Conference 
• How do optimize our costs of materials eg cabling, meters, etc

Actions 

• Schedule retro during next week's mid week checkin - Aaron 
• Communicating with the Chint Meter - Hillary + Dansturn 
• Recruiting an Resident Microgrid Manager (5k per hour) - Aaron 
• Analytics and reports from Calinmeter - What else can we get from Calin AMI - Hillary 
• URA monthly filling - We need to engage a person - Aaron 
• Do we need a power backup for the Lora Gateway - Hillary 
• Compliance and Safety inspection letter from Certified Engineer - Dansturn 
• Submit expenses from Greenvolta - Aaron 

NFE Weekly Checkin September 19th 2025

Agenda 

• Fundraising Updates and requests for review
• Game plan for Phase 2 
  
• New team members: Nickson 
• Phase 1.1: How do we resolve phase 1 current issues 
  • Phase selector 
    
  • Reviewing Data from the meters/gateway 

Actions from previous meeting

• Schedule retro during next week's mid week checkin - Aaron 
• Communicating with the Chint Meter - Hillary + Dansturn 
• Recruiting an Resident Microgrid Manager (5k per hour) - Aaron 
• Analytics and reports from Calinmeter - What else can we get from Calin AMI - Hillary 
• URA monthly filling - We need to engage a person - Aaron 
• Do we need a power backup for the Lora Gateway - Hillary 
• Compliance and Safety inspection letter from Certified Engineer - Dansturn 
• Submit expenses from Greenvolta - Aaron 

Retro was conducted: https://ideaboardz.com/for/Sezibwa%20Phase%201%20Retro/5640560

NFE Mid week Checkin September 25th 2025

• Sezibwa Phase 1.1 Progress updates 
• Calinmeter Gateway issues 
• Billing readiness 
• Battery / Inverter evaluations updates 

 

Notes 

Actions 

• Collect data for phase issues in Sezibwa - Aaron + Hillary 
• Manage Calinmeter issues and refocus on new solutions - 
• Follow up on FenCon battery/inverter pricing - Aaron 
• Follow up on Gonahasa's Solar/Battery and inverter system - Aaron 

NFE weekly checkin October 11th 2025

General Updates 

• Usage and billing for September:
• Battery evaluations: we have some local suppliers: See SRNE
• We have a URA person to help with monthly filling 
• Engaged a lawyer on Certificate of registration from ERA - 

Agenda 

• Discuss usage and billing issues
  • Postpaid - how is that going 
  • Meter accuracy? UEDCL meter seemed to come up with less than our meters 
  • Lora gateway issues relapsed 
  • Waiting to configure daily report issues when China team is back from national holiday next week 
  • Work involved in invoicing 
• Phase 2
  • Budget: We are at about 20m right now - should we begin the fundraising? 
    • Tushabe family contributed another ~1800 USD 
    • Tondo and Greenvolta wanted to contribute 
      
  • Data on usage: still pending Calin AMI issues but we should be able to get it from Daily usage report 
  • Suppliers: SRNE currently looking like the best option 

Pending Action items 

• Compliance and Safety inspection letter from Certified Engineer - Dansturn
• Visit Nakulabye to complain about bill rates - Aaron 
• Run last month reports for calinmeter - Aaron 
• Collect data on phase variance - Hillary
• Phase 2 next steps - 
  • Meter 2.0 testing 
  • Battery + Inverter testing 
  • Budget and fundraising 

NFE Weekly - October 18th 2025

Previous actions 

• Compliance and Safety inspection letter from Certified Engineer - Dansturn
• Visit Nakulabye to complain about bill rates - Aaron 
• Run last month reports for calinmeter - Aaron 
• Collect data on phase variance - Hillary
• Phase 2 next steps - 
  • Meter 2.0 testing 
  • Battery + Inverter testing 
  • Budget and fundraising 

Agenda 

• Fundraising updates and next steps
• Metering bottle necks 
• Scope for Meter 2.0 testing 
  • Communication with AMI 
  • Test with at least 5 meters 
  • Need a rig with multiple sockets 

Action 

• Check with Calinmeter on status of pattern approval with UNBS - Aaron 
• Check chint meter + calinmeter readings again for variance in October reading - Hillary 
• Move gateway outside for a day or two, move it to main house - Aaron 
• Collect data on phase variance for half week to inform phase selection - Hillary
• Mount Meters on a rig and deliver test rid to buwate, Hillary's garage - Dansturn / Hillary 
• Running OpenEMS in a test environment - Hillary + Aaron 

NFE Weekly Checkin - October 25th 2025

Agenda 

• Battery evaluation updates
• Fundraising Updates 
• 100% paid up for September 
• We have a mailing list manager (new app) 

Action items 

• Relocate new meters to Buwate Lab @ Arindas - Dansturn
• Onboard Sevo to help with Data modeling and analysis for battery sizing - Aaron 
• Evaluate Zembo and other local suppliers for batteries - Dansturn 

NFE Weekly Checkin - Nov 1st 2025

Agenda 

• Fundraising Continues
  • Praxis not successful 
  • Submitted D-Prize (20K) 
  • Up Next 
    • Tondo
    • Akampa
    • Tom 
    • Sevo 
    • Energy IoT (fiscal sponsorship at 10% fees) 
    • Kickstarter 
• Metering 2.0 
  • Working with Energy IoT to set up OpenEMS 
• Initial ROI Projections for Phase 2
• Registering US entity to aid fundraising 

Action items 

• Export Daily usage data from CalinAMI to determine maximum demand - Aaron
• Possible Pilot for NFE USA - Aaron 

NFE Weekly Checkin - Nov 15th 2025

Previous meeting action items

• Export Daily usage data from CalinAMI to determine maximum demand - Aaron
  • See initial results here, Sevo also committed to doing similar analysis, waiting for his feedback 
• Possible Pilot for NFE USA - Aaron 

Actions Items

• 10 Hopetele meters with a board today 15th Nov 2025 to be delivered to Arinda's Buwate residence - Dansturn
  
• OpenEMS edge on raspberry pi running - Hillary 
• Confirm installation guidelines from SRNE - Aaron 
• Detailed breakdown of the Kyanja installation by midweek- Dansturn
• November invoices breakdown
• Midweek weekly check-in Thursday 6-7 am Ugandan time

NFE Checkin - Jan 7th 2026

Agenda 

• Roadmap review 

Action Items 

• What will postpaid using Metering 2.0 look like? Will the regulator approve? - Aaron 
• Can we sell the product we currently have running at Sezibwa? - Dansturn and Aaron 

NFE weekly checkin - Jan 22nd 2026

Agenda 

• Product at Sezibwa readiness
• Update on Metering 2.0 
• Funding Updates 

Action Items 

• What will postpaid using Metering 2.0 look like? Will the regulator approve? - Aaron 
• Can we sell the product we currently have running at Sezibwa? - Dansturn and Aaron 
• Ask Chint what UNBS approval this smart meter have? - Aaron 
• Engage Hillary and Abdul for a session to guide on current blockers - Arinda   
• Modbus security risks report - Arinda 

NFE weekly checkin - Jan 29th 2026

Notes   

• Metering 2.0 Updates: We are ready to test openEMS edge during this Friday's working session
• Grant applications: we need an Estonian partner for ESTDEV and we need to continue pace of 1 funding application per week 
• Whole House backup 
  • Pricing seems higher but maybe worth the value prop of 24 7 power 
  • Demo Open Solar CRM 

Action items 

• Prepare open solar demo for next week - Aaron 
• Pitch for Submetering to Lofty Skies customer - Aaron + Dansturn 
• Review investor readiness checklist - Dansturn 
• Time tracking reminders - Aaron 

 

NFE Checkin - Feb 6th 2026

Agenda 

• OpenEMS
• Fundrasing Update

 

NFE checkin - Feb 12 2026

Deployment Checklist 

• Internet connectivity - orange
• Meter Modbus conversion - orange 
• BOQ - green 
• deployment pipeline - orange 

Action Items 

• Prepare hardware for gateway deployment to Nansana - Aaron 
  • Sourcing the right internet connectivity device 
• AI workflow integration in Design/Quotation/BOQs - Dansturn 
• Deploy gateway and 3 phase meter to Nansana - Dansturn 
• Get meter unlock script from Hillary Zembo - Hillary

NFE Weekly Checkin - March 21 2026

Agenda 

• Demo for Metering 2.0 Changes
• Review of NFE business models: https://bookstack.nearlyfreeenergy.com/books/business/page/draft-business-models-for-the-nfe-microgrid-os

Action items 

• Data analysis from most recent dump from about 2 days of Grid meter data - Aaron 
• Set up local environment (meter + pi ) for testing changes before deploying to production - Hillary 
• Procedure for commissioning a new meter and setting up to log data - Hillary / Aaron 
• Serial numbers from Nansana - Dansturn / Dismas 

NFE Tech Huddle - April 3rd 2026

Quick summary

During this meeting, Aaron, Hillary discussed, the current meter-logging system, data buffering and aggregation approach, deployment pipeline, backup and metadata storage, and commissioning/precommissioning of meters.

Action items for Aaron

• Wrap up gateway deployment repo and onboard Hillary so he can use it going forward
  
• NFE Web app integration with real (CSV) data via nextcloud once Hillary has populated sample meter data; coordinate timing for verification.

Action items for Hillary

• Implement and enable the 15-minute buffering and averaging approach (already in place) and ensure exported log entries represent averages for each 15-minute window; document the buffering logic.
• Adjust the backup/upload timer to start with hourly uploads and monitor cost/performance; report recommended cadence after initial test period.
• Deploy the meter services to the other production Pi and validate that the metadata folder is populated with meter folders (start tonight where possible).
• Add a commissioning/precommissioning script that converts meters from the Chinese protocol to Modbus, assigns temporary address 1 for precommissioning, then writes the production address and serial number; document the commissioning procedure and constraints (e.g., stopping services may lock serial port). Onboard Dansturn to execute on this
• Share the correct metadata/metadata folder link and confirm access is granted to Aaron; reorganize folder structure as discussed (metadata -> customer -> meter folders).
• Test image building and deployment flow (VM build -> push to main -> CI build image -> manual deploy) and document the exact deployment commands.
• Test upgrading the client version in a staging environment and report any compatibility/security concerns before upgrading production.

Notes: Hillary already demonstrated the buffering (10s sampling, 15-min average) and the backup/upload service; team agreed to start with hourly uploads and scale as needed. Commissioning constraints and Modbus address conflicts were discussed; precommissioning workflow will be created to avoid on-site conflicts.

Nfe Weekly checkin - 4th April 2026

Agenda 

• Review of last week's action items
• Way forward based on feedback
• Discuss a little bit about the pre-commissioning process
• Backup battery updates
• Chint meter deployment plan

Action items feedback

• Data analysis from the most recent dump from about 2 days of Grid meter data - Aaron - This was done. Preliminary 2-day feedback returned, with concern about the 45kw spikes. needs to be reviewed.
• Set up local environment (meter + pi ) for testing changes before deploying to production - Hillary- Done, testing would be better with a three-phase meter. Aaron also has a dev PI set up.
• Procedure for commissioning a new meter and setting up to log data - Hillary / Aaron - draft presented, to be optimized for Nansana
• Serial numbers from Nansana - Dansturn / Dismas - provided

Action items 

• Procurement of meters - Dansturn 
• Installation and commissioning - All
• Battery backup updates - Aaron

Tech Huddle - Behind the Meter Connection for each customer

NFE Checkin - 11th April 2026

Agenda 

• Financial Model game plan: https://bookstack.nearlyfreeenergy.com/books/team/page/financial-model-game-plan-q2
• Sezibwa Site plan changes for phase 2: https://bookstack.nearlyfreeenergy.com/books/business/page/sezibwa-site-plan-for-phase-2
• Demos 
  • Pi deployment 
  • Customer App v1

Action items 

• Complete Kyanja energy/power audit inspection - recommendations - @Dansturn
• Get specsheets and dimensions for batteries and inverter - Aaron 
• Decision on physical location of batteries and inverter - Hillary and Dansturn 
• Data from NFE microgrids - How can we productize this (target for Q2) - Aaron 

NFE Checkin - May 16th 2026

Agenda 

• Metering 2.0 Updates
  • Customer App 
  • OpenEMS 
    • Support for DDSU and DTSU 
    • Deployment Automation for the gateway 
  • MBE - Metering and Billing Engine 
    • New invoices 
• New customers 
  • Pearl Marina 
  • Kyanja 
  • Kyaliwajala 
• Phase 2 in Nansana 
  • Civil work 
    
• Managing Customer Data 
• Funding / 
  • Women Owned Green Business 
  • LF Energy Summit 2026
• Metering 3.0 
  • Working with Glenn

Action items 

• Update Customer App to show usage using billing markers  - Aaron

NFE Checkin - May 23rd 2026

Last week's Agenda 

• Metering 2.0 Updates
  • Customer App -successfully demoed
  • OpenEMS 
    • Support for DDSU and DTSU - both changes merged. release expected first june 2026. 
    • Deployment Automation for the gateway - Not discussed
  • MBE - Metering and Billing Engine 
    • New invoices - Demoed
• New customers 
  • Pearl Marina 
  • Kyanja 
  • Kyaliwajala 
• Phase 2 in Nansana 
  • Civil work 
    
• Managing Customer Data - I want the link 
• Funding / 
  • Women Owned Green Business - Green volta totally in (week 2 of 10)
  • LF Energy Summit 2026 - submission underway
• Metering 3.0 
  • Working with Glenn - prepare for Nairobi workshop

Action items 

• Update Customer App to show usage using billing markers  - Aaron

Agenda

• Metering 2.0 Updates
  • OpenEMS
    
    • Deployment Automation for the gateway
  • MBE - Metering and Billing Engine
    
• New customers
  • Pearl Marina
  • Kyanja
  • Kyaliwajala
• Phase 2 in Nansana
  • Discussion happening today - happening now
  • Architectural design of the connection

Action items 

• Submit the LF energy paper - Aaron
• remove dependency of local pc for uploading customer data to superbase for free - Hillary
• Put  demo together and do some testing on test pi for single phase next week - Aaron
• Set Dansturn's account up - Aaron
  
• BOQ with 1 variable line for the cheaper and more expensive location - Dansturn

EnAccess <> NFE Checkin - June 2nd 2026

Attendees

• Aaron T. 

• Vivien B.

• Obinna I.

• Daniel M.

Overview

The call focused on whether MPM should evolve to better support grid-connected mini-grids, especially postpaid billing, meter integrations, and monitoring of batteries/solar assets. The team agreed the current direction is promising for the Nigerian mini-grid use case, but emphasized that new capabilities should be integrated carefully so the platform remains technically coherent and maintainable.

Why the conversation happened

Aaron raised a strategic question: whether the current MPM product is being pushed beyond its original design by supporting grid-connected mini-grids, or whether a new system should be built instead. Vivien and Daniel clarified that MPM was historically built as a mini-grid CRM and later adapted by solar home system companies by the newest work in Mozambique. However, new conversations with REI in Nigeria is increasingly steering it toward mini-grid needs again.

Product positioning and strategic direction

Vivien explained that MPM’s roots are in mini-grid operations and CRM workflows, not solar home systems, even though solar home system companies adopted it over time. He noted that recent demand from Mozambique and a larger contract in Nigeria are driving more mini-grid-specific work, including OEM integrations, dashboard hardening, and other adaptations.

The team also discussed the upcoming PayGo Ops community edition, which may better serve some solar home system users. Vivien’s view was that this does not undermine MPM’s mini-grid identity; rather, it highlights that MPM should keep focusing on the mini-grid segment while remaining open to adjacent use cases where appropriate.

Postpaid vs. prepaid metering

A major topic was Aaron’s observation that the pilot became easier when the team moved away from a proprietary prepaid meter setup and adopted postpaid billing. Aaron had originally feared that MPM might be too biased toward prepaid workflows, and wondered whether postpaid mini-grid support would require an entirely new system.

Daniel responded that prepaid metering is easier to support technically because the abstraction is straightforward: a customer pays, a tariff applies, and energy is delivered. Postpaid introduces more complexity because it requires tracking usage over a billing period, calculating debt/amount owed, and handling billing logic in a less linear way. Daniel said MPM already has some related concepts, but postpaid still requires careful design so the abstractions remain coherent.

Metering and data acquisition lessons from the pilot

Aaron described the operational problems they faced with a Chinese vendor, Kalin: the meters claimed to support both prepaid and postpaid, but the vendor did not expose meter data directly. Instead, the team had to use proprietary middleware APIs hosted by the vendor, which caused reliability issues, token-lockout problems, slow support response times, and pressure to place larger orders before the pilot was stable.

To solve this, the team switched in March 2026 to locally sourced meters that are postpaid-only and expose data via RS-45/Modbus into a Raspberry Pi, which is then connected to the internet through a modem. This setup gave them direct access to meter data, reduced dependency on the vendor, and eliminated the operational risk of needing tokens from overseas just to unlock a customer meter.

Aaron also noted that the meters are physically clustered in a single PDU, which makes wired connectivity practical in this pilot. Vivien pointed out that this works for dense apartment-complex style deployments, but would not translate well to rural, dispersed mini-grids where wireless communication is usually more appropriate.

Open-source monitoring and OpenEMS integration

Aaron said the pilot team had already contributed a plugin to OpenEMS so that usage data from the new meters can be read in real time. He suggested a future model where OpenEMS handles monitoring of meters, batteries, and solar assets, while MPM handles business functions such as billing, invoicing, and customer communication.

Daniel and Vivien were receptive to this division of labor. Vivien emphasized that the goal should be integration rather than rebuilding existing open-source tools. He referenced the existing Prospect integration as a model: ideally, MPM should connect with external monitoring systems in a way that lets users move seamlessly between tools rather than duplicating functionality.

Battery and solar support

Aaron asked whether MPM was originally intended to handle batteries and solar generation data as part of mini-grid operations. Daniel clarified that this was not part of the original core focus. MPM’s main scope has been customer transaction management and business workflows, not system monitoring.

That said, Daniel acknowledged that there is a gray area where battery or solar data affects billing, and therefore may need to be integrated into MPM workflows. He stressed that system monitoring should not simply be bolted on as a disconnected feature. Instead, the team should think carefully about where such data belongs, how it is modeled, and how it can be integrated without making the product overly complicated.

Billing, customer visibility, and invoicing features

Aaron demonstrated the pilot’s customer-facing web app, which lets customers see their usage, estimated bill, and end-of-month projection. The app refreshes automatically every six hours, with manual refresh available. This was intended to reduce uncertainty for customers and let them see charges before the monthly billing cycle closes.

He also showed the microgrid manager billing interface, where customer data is imported, billing cycles are created monthly, invoices are generated, and payment links are attached through a payment service. Aaron highlighted this as one of the strongest parts of the pilot and argued that MPM should gain similar invoicing capability, alongside an integrated payment-provider flow and an OpenEMS data source.

The group agreed that these were the most concrete candidate features to pursue. Aaron said his team could likely push the payment integration and invoicing work, while also helping define the OpenEMS plugin approach and continuing conversations with Nigerian partners.

Nigeria and regulatory relevance

Vivien stressed that Nigeria is especially relevant because it has an active mini-grid market, including grid-connected mini-grids, structured regulation, and tariff systems that resemble the use case Aaron is working on. Aaron agreed, noting that Uganda’s regulator is increasingly looking to Nigeria as an example for policy development, and that his team is preparing a paper to make the case for adopting elements of Nigeria’s regulatory framework.

The discussion made clear that Nigeria is both a strong market for the problem and a promising source of practical solutions. Vivien also suggested Aaron could observe some conversations EnAccess has with other community members who are focussing on Mini-grids. 

Managing codebase complexity and simplification

Later in the call, Aaron asked whether there should be a roadmap for removing or disabling legacy features from MPM, since long-running applications tend to accumulate unused functionality. Daniel said the team had spent much of 2025 removing things, but had recently shifted toward adding new capabilities. He agreed that managing complexity is an ongoing concern.

Daniel distinguished between two kinds of simplification:

• user-facing simplification, such as hiding advanced options by default or using more sensible defaults;

• backend simplification, which is harder because core abstractions like “mini-grid” are deeply embedded in the codebase.

Obinna added that from his experience, the team usually receives feature requests rather than removal requests. He suggested that if the roadmap included clearer visibility into unused functionality, he could help identify features that no one appears to use and also warn when something that looks unused is actually used by someone else.

Key takeaways

• MPM is still seen by the team as a mini-grid CRM, not just a solar home system platform.

• Postpaid support is viable, but it needs deliberate abstraction design.

• Direct meter integration and open data access are critical for reliable mini-grid operations.

• OpenEMS is a strong candidate for handling monitoring, while MPM should focus on billing, customer/account management, and payment workflows.

• The strongest near-term product opportunities are invoicing, payment-link generation, and an OpenEMS data-source integration.

• The team should continue exploring simplification opportunities, but removal of legacy code or features needs a more explicit process and roadmap.

NFE checkin - June 6th 2026

Agenda 

• Nansana phase 2 - budget review
• Metering 2.0 - what next 
• Kyanja phase 1 - updates 

Notes and action items 

• Review phase 2 budget with contractor after the team made adjustments - Aaron/Dansturn
• Kick-off Pearl Marina and Kyaliwajala - Phase 1 - Aaron 
• Metering 2.0 - blog post - Aaron 
• Automated Billing with MBE and Customer App - Hillary 

NFE Mid week checkin - June 11th

Attendees

• Hillary
• Aaron 

Agenda 

• Deploying OpenEMs

Recording is here

Hillary / Aaron - Tech Huddle - June 29th 2026

 Meeting Transcription.txt

Recording here

NFE Checkin - July 4th 2026

Agenda 

• Storage 1.0
  • Nansana Battery Deployment: Ready to go live, waiting for review by Dansturn 
• Metering 2.0
  • OpenEMS - what is pending? 
• Billing 2.0 
  • MBE monthly invoices automated 
  • Ifris invoices still manual but API available: needs work 
• New customers 
  • Kyaliwajala - Not started  
  • Kyanja 
    • Quoted, pending meter payment 
    • Client also troubleshooting 3 phase connection 
  • Garuga 
    • Survey completed, pending quotation 
    • Initial civil work pending: not yet quoted 
  • Funding for next phases not available 
  • May need to get backup locations to help us get to 100 customers.. Right now we only have Kyanja and 
• NFE annual tax returns 
  • Getting accounting help from Esther to file this. May need to switch to a better accounting system 
• Fundraising and publicity  
  • Digital Energy Challenge Submitted - No feedback yet 
  • ERA Symposium postponed to Feb 2027 
  • Power Africa - Need to apply for sponsorship: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSefYPSRGp7ur9f2-FIIYXo56T9WlCswwrue7_1_h6uc34TsDw/viewform
  • IEEE Meet the Entreprenuer: https://ieee-powerafrica.org/meet-the-enterpreneur-competition/
  • EnAccess OSEA symposium in Rwanda: https://www.oseas.org/attend
  • LF Energy Berlin: pending sponsorship application 
  • Stanbic Bank Women's something?