SmartGas IoT : Pay-As-You-Go LPG

Pay for gas like airtime - only what you use. SmartGas IoT meters transform costly cylinders into affordable micro-payments with real-time monitoring, leak detection, and instant emergency response.

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πŸ’‘ Inspiration

The inspiration for SmartGas Pro came from watching university students skip meals because they couldn't afford the KES 2,500 upfront cost for LPG cylinders, while effortlessly topping up KES 20 for mobile airtime. This stark contrast made us question: Why can't we pay for gas the same way we pay for airtime? Walking through communities where families risked their health using charcoal due to LPG affordability barriers. 75% of Kenyan households heavily rely on charcoal, wood, or other biomass fuels for their cooking needsAccording to Kenya Medical Research Institute （KEMRIοΌ‰, At least 23,000 Kenyans die yearly from household air pollution from cooking with these methods, we realized technology could transform energy access from an expensive product purchase into an affordable service subscription.

⚑ What it does

SmartGas Pro is an IoT-enabled pay-as-you-go LPG system that transforms how families access cooking gas. Smart meters attach to cylinders, allowing customers to purchase gas credits via mobile money starting from just KES 50 instead of paying KES 2,500 upfront. The system monitors consumption in real-time, automatically shuts off gas when credits are exhausted, and provides safety features including leak detection and emergency response. Customers use our mobile app to top up, track usage, and receive alerts, while Green Wells uses our dashboard for route optimization, predictive maintenance, and business analytics.

πŸ›  How we built it

We built SmartGas Pro using a three-tier architecture optimized for rapid prototyping and future scalability:

Spring Boot Backend: Created robust APIs for IoT data processing, payment handling, and safety monitoring. We developed sophisticated simulation algorithms that generate realistic smart meter data - gas flow rates, consumption patterns, and safety events. Utilized PostgreSQL and H2 database during development.

React Dashboard: Built a real-time operations center with WebSocket connections for live IoT data streaming. The dashboard shows meter statuses, processes payments, manages emergency responses, integrated google map API for showing optimized routes, and provides business intelligence.

πŸ” Test Credentials

Email: [email protected]
Password: password

Flutter Mobile App: Developed a consumer-facing application for gas top-ups, usage tracking, safety monitoring, and family dashboards. Integrated M-Pesa sandbox APIs for seamless payment experiences.

All components communicate through RESTful APIs, creating a seamless ecosystem that demonstrates how the system would work with actual IoT hardware.

🚧 Challenges we ran into

IoT Simulation Without Hardware: Creating authentic smart meter behavior without physical devices required developing complex algorithms that model real-world gas consumption, sensor readings, and failure modes.

Real-time Data Synchronization: Ensuring instant updates across mobile app, backend, and dashboard demanded careful WebSocket implementation with heartbeat monitoring and automatic reconnection handling.

Payment Flow Integration: Integrating M-Pesa sandbox while maintaining user experience required understanding mobile money complexities and building robust error handling for network issues.

Safety-First Architecture: Designing a system where safety monitoring isn't just a feature, but the foundation required building fail-safe mechanisms and emergency response protocols into every component.

πŸ† Accomplishments that we're proud of

Revolutionary Business Model: We created the first pay-as-you-go LPG system globally, transforming energy from product sales to service provision and making clean cooking accessible to families who couldn't afford it before.

Complete Ecosystem: Built a full-stack solution spanning IoT simulation, mobile payments, real-time dashboards, and safety monitoring - demonstrating enterprise-level architecture thinking.

Social Impact Focus: Every feature serves a higher purpose - from KES 50 micro-payments enabling energy access to automatic leak detection preventing accidents in vulnerable communities.

Technical Excellence: Achieved seamless real-time communication between Spring Boot, Next.js, and Flutter components, creating a system that scales from prototype to production.

πŸŽ“ What we learned

Market Reality: Discovered that 75% of Kenyan households can't afford LPG upfront costs, representing 4.8 million families forced to use dangerous alternatives - validating our core assumption about unmet demand.

Technology Integration: Learned how to architect systems where IoT, mobile payments, and real-time monitoring work together seamlessly, understanding the complexities of building safety-critical applications.

Business Model Innovation: Understood how technology can transform traditional industries from product-based to service-based models, creating recurring revenue while expanding market access.

Social Technology: Learned that the most powerful innovations solve real human problems - our technical decisions were driven by the goal of serving families who need clean energy most.

πŸš€ What's next for SmartGas Pro - IoT Pay-As-You-Go LPG System

Immediate Next Steps (Post-Hackathon):

  • Partner with IoT manufacturers to develop production-ready smart meters
  • Pilot deployment with 100 real customers in Nairobi to validate market demand
  • Secure partnerships with mobile money providers for full payment integration
  • Work with regulatory bodies to establish safety standards for smart gas systems

Scaling Strategy:

  • Year 1: Deploy 10,000 smart meters across Kenya, focusing on university towns and urban areas
  • Year 2: Expand to 100,000 meters nationally, adding rural communities and small businesses
  • Year 3: Launch in Tanzania and Uganda, becoming East Africa's leading energy technology platform
  • Year 5: Achieve pan-African presence with 1 million connected households

Vision: Transform SmartGas Pro from a hackathon prototype into the foundation of energy equity across Africa, where no family chooses between education fees and cooking gas, and where technology ensures every household has safe, affordable access to clean energy.

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