Design and Deployment of an Open-Source Multi-Tenant IoT Cloud Architecture for Renewable-Energy Living Labs in Rwanda

Abstract

IoT cloud platforms support the monitoring and management of distributed renewable-energy systems, but sustaining them can be challenging in academic and community initiatives with limited resources. Recurring cloud-service fees, dependence on proprietary platforms, and limited local control may become major obstacles, particularly when long-term service operation must be combined with technical capacity-building within local institutions and surrounding communities. This paper presents an open-source, multi-tenant IoT cloud architecture developed within the GREATER Erasmus+ framework and deployed in renewable-energy Living Labs in Rwanda. The architecture is built using widely adopted open-source tools, including Docker, Node-RED, MySQL, Nginx, MQTT, and HTTPS APIs. The main novelty is an open-source middleware layer that transforms standard components into a shared, tenant-aware platform by coordinating authentication, role-based access, tenant-aware routing, controlled database access, separate Node-RED workspaces, and dashboard visibility for different Living Labs and user roles. The platform has been deployed in real settings, supporting photovoltaic monitoring, solar-powered irrigation, community energy services, domestic energy monitoring, and educational activities. The platform is evaluated in terms of cost, resource usage, communication delay, reliability mechanisms, and access-control behavior. The results show that heterogeneous IoT services can be hosted on modest local infrastructure while maintaining logical separation between Living Lab data and services. By combining open-source technologies, multi-tenant management, and field deployment, the proposed architecture offers a practical model for higher-education institutions and community-oriented renewable-energy initiatives in resource-constrained environments.