With the innovation of electricity management models in the power sector, prepayment technology has been widely applied in supply departments such as water, electricity, and gas. This paper proposes the basic design concept of a prepaid electricity sales management system, focusing on the sale of electricity for prepaid meters. Through the development and application of this system, the collection of user electricity fees has been achieved, greatly safeguarding the interests of the power supply system while making user consumption more transparent.  

The development of prepaid systems has gone through three eras: the traditional IC card prepaid system era, the traditional centralized meter reading prepaid system, and the Hezhong Zhida Intelligent Remote Prepaid Cloud Platform. The development process includes hardware functions transitioning from IC cards to a cardless era, servers shifting from local master station control to cloud platform control, and systems evolving from PCs to the mobile era, representing a leapfrog development.

Traditional IC Card Prepaid System

The birth of the IC card prepaid system primarily addressed the challenges of fee collection in many regions, such as unpaid and defaulted electricity bills, by implementing prepaid management. The model of "pay first, use later" with shutoff for non-payment顛覆ed the traditional "supply first, charge later" energy management model, leading the trend of modern energy management reform. With IC card technology, purchasing gas, recharging heat, swiping cards, and querying can all be done with a single card, making the process effortless. This transformed the previously cumbersome manual meter reading and manual billing into automated gas and heat purchase management for users.

Traditional Centralized Meter Reading Prepaid System

The traditional centralized meter reading prepaid system, also known as the backend remote prepaid system, allows remote switching of user meters for easy control and simplifies the electricity purchase process. Without the need for IC cards, users can directly purchase electricity at business halls, after which the master station manually distributes the electricity fees, reducing manual intervention and eliminating the need for IC cards and card readers, making it convenient for users. 

Hezhong Zhida Intelligent Remote Prepaid Cloud Platform 

The "Hezhong Zhida Intelligent Remote Prepaid Cloud Platform" is a newly developed electricity sales management system by Hezhong Zhida Company, designed to work with DDSY single-phase electronic prepaid electricity meters and DTSY three-phase electronic prepaid electricity meters. It is an integrated system centered around electricity management software and centralized meter reading software, including computers, communication management machines, printers, and other devices.

Additionally, it can be optionally equipped with remote-control water meters to form an integrated water and electricity prepaid system, achieving the goal of "pay first, use later" for water, with automatic valve closure when the remaining water volume is depleted.

It primarily handles parameter settings for electricity/water meters, merchant electricity/water sales management, and energy consumption management. The system is easy to operate, enabling property companies to perform remote real-time operations and monitoring. It features a user-friendly interface, effectively manages and statistically processes data, and implements robust security measures for data protection. Easy to install, it is an ideal product for electricity management departments, commercial plazas, and residential property management to improve the management level of electricity and water usage and address fee collection challenges.

Large groups and property management companies often need centralized fee collection and management for multiple properties and geographically dispersed locations, facing complex requirements such as public network data transmission, distributed financial operations, online payments, and centralized financial management. The prepaid cloud platform can meet these needs.