Behind an apparent breakthrough are often years of development, testing, and direction changes. For Beacon Power Services (BPS) and Sotex, the journey included building an initial product, responding to market readiness, and continuing into software supporting utility operations.

Today, BPS supplies grid management software and network analytics to African utilities, addressing fragmented records, energy losses, billing gaps, and limited network visibility. Sotex’s contribution spans software design, architecture, development, integration, deployment, and ongoing support.

Building the first product and responding to the market

The collaboration began with software for facility management and small-scale solar management. BPS and Sotex worked to turn the idea into a working product, addressing the practical demands of managing facilities and energy resources.

Facility management work brought energy monitoring, diesel tracking, vendor coordination, and billing automation into one system. It connected information across locations and supported tasks previously handled through fragmented processes. Read the facility management case study.

As BPS brought the initial offering to market, adoption proved challenging. Prospective customers were not yet ready to embrace the approach. That experience informed a pivot toward utility software, where BPS identified a clearer opportunity to address pressing operational needs.

Connecting customer records with the physical grid

Utility software needed to connect information with infrastructure and field operations.

At the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), disconnected customer and asset records made it difficult to establish customer-to-transformer connections, locate network problems, and account for energy losses.

BPS’s Customer and Asset Information Management System (CAIMS) addressed these challenges through digital asset mapping, customer-to-transformer tagging, and energy accounting dashboards. Sotex collaborated with BPS on its design and implementation, including integration with existing systems and mobile and web access for operational teams.

The work extended beyond development. Sotex’s responsibilities included requirements workshops with BPS and ECG, architecture, deployment and field support, training, and continued monitoring and maintenance. Read the CAIMS case study.

BPS brought its energy-sector knowledge and utility customer context; Sotex contributed engineering to support those requirements in practice.

Supporting enterprise and national utility operations

Working with utilities introduced demands around existing infrastructure, diverse data formats, and daily commercial processes.

In the BPS billing collaboration, Sotex developed software integrating meter data with billing, reporting, alerts, and debt recovery tools. Its published case reports billed-customer coverage increasing from 63% to 98% in the deployment. Read the billing case study.

Sotex’s prepaid energy work also includes an STS-certified vending platform, supporting token generation, payment processing, and integration with vendors and security modules. The project demonstrates experience with the certification requirements involved in putting prepaid electricity services into production. Read the STS vending case study.

The CAIMS deployment also placed the collaboration within the operational context of Ghana’s national electricity provider. On BPS’s website, ECG’s Director of Customer Service reports doubled revenue over two years, alongside reduced losses and improved efficiency following deployment. These are ECG’s reported outcomes from the wider implementation, to which Sotex contributed engineering. Read ECG’s testimonial.

Reaching this operational setting required attention to how software was integrated, introduced to users, maintained, and improved—not simply whether its features worked in isolation.

Adding AI to an established workflow

The collaboration continued into new capabilities.

Incomplete asset records and labor-intensive surveys created an opportunity to extend CAIMS with AI-powered drone mapping. BPS and Sotex worked on a module that processes aerial imagery to identify infrastructure such as poles, transformers, substations, and buildings.

The system generates geographic coordinates and 3D asset models, with outputs that can feed into CAIMS or external systems. It connects a new method of collecting asset information with an existing operational product. Read the drone mapping case study.

Engineering continuity through changing requirements

Across the relationship, the work changed: an initial product, a market pivot, utility integrations, operational deployment, and additional capabilities. Sotex continued contributing as BPS’s requirements evolved.

BPS CEO Bimbola Adisa describes the relationship:

“Sotex Solutions has delivered everything we asked for, and they've become an integral part of our team.”

Published on Clutch

For a growing energy technology company, that continuity can matter whether the immediate requirement is a product improvement, an integration, or something new to build.

Bringing your energy platform to Enlit? What comes next?

Sotex will be attending Enlit Europe. If you are exploring software engineering or integration support, get in touch before the event. Tell us what you are developing and what you need to build, connect, or improve.