Inverter Monitor
Smart Energy Tariffs
Smart Tariffs combined with a Smart Meter allow you to reduce your energy bill without reducing your energy consumption. This is achieved by buying electricity at a time of day when it is cheapest (and possibly selling electricity when it is most expensive). At the time of writing, in the UK, Octopus Energy offers the widest range of smart tariffs. Here you will find examples for how to set the app for the following tariffs:
Octopus Intelligent Flux is not covered here because using this app to control the Inverter will conflict with Octopus's automated control. Octopus Intelligent Go is similar to Go, but there may be potential to export profitably using settings from the Flux example to export in the evening. Octopus Agile tariffs can be managed in a similar way to Cosy by choosing the cheaper time slots manually, but Agile is better managed by a more sophisticated solution such as Home Assistant.
Saving Sessions
Having a Smart Meter allows participation in Saving Sessions, more correctly called the Demand Flexibility Scheme run by National Grid.
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These are typically 1 hour sessions at times of peak electricity demand.
In the example here, the discharge timer is set to match the session from 5pm until 6pm. The scheduler is used to turn Eco Mode off and back on to maximise the power exported. Depending on your Inverter model and firmware level the scheduler may not be necessary.
Economy 7
Strictly speaking, Economy 7 wasn't a smart tariff, although today it is commonly implemented with a Smart Meter rather than the old Meters with 2 readings system.
In the example here, the charging period is set for the cheap period from midnight to 7am. Turning off the limit allows the battery to charge until full. Most likely your battery could fully charge in less than 7 hours, so the scheduler can be used to limit the charge rate overnight, and then set it back to maximum to capture any energy from Solar Panels.
Go
Go is similar to Economy 7 but with a shorter cheap rate period, and targetted mainly at EV owners.
In the example here, the charge period is set to match the Go cheap rate. You could enable and set a charge limit depending on the weather forecast for the following day. With the Go tariff there is little need to use the scheduler, except for saving sessions.
Flux
Flux has the best export prices at peak times and is targetted at solar and battery owners that can store energy to export between 4pm and 7pm.
Because the day export price is higher than the night import price, it can make sense to charge the battery during the cheap 2am to 5am period even on sunny days. If your system is subject to clipping, it may make sense to only charge to a limit to leave capacity to store excess generation.
Setting the battery to discharge during the peak rate period is not as simple as starting the discharge at 16:00. Depending on the weather and usage during the day, the battery could be at any charge level when the peak period starts. Discharging it immediately risks running out of stored energy and then having to buy back power at peak rates.
Discharging the battery needs to be delayed until a time when the discharge will leave you will just enough to last through the evening until 2am.
In this example the aim is to keep 40% battery charge for the 7pm to 2am evening to avoid unnecessary import. To ensure arriving at 7pm with about 40% a "time ladder" is built using the scheduler to start the export at the best time during the peak period.
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Using the controls, turn on the discharge timer and set the time period for 16:00 to 19:00, then turn the timer back off!
Use the scheduler to add entries throughout the period to start the discharge at the best time according to the battery level.
Older inverters (running firmware 447 thru 451) need eco mode to be turned off for the discharge to work. For these leave the discharge timer on and use the scheduler to turn eco mode off instead. This creates the same effect.
For newer systems (2023 on)
For older systems (pre 2023)
Cosy
The unique feature of cosy is three time periods for charging the battery. Cosy is intended for high electricity usage, such as heat pump owners, so export is not a priority.
Initially set the charging settings to one of the cheap periods. Then use the scheduler to switch the times back and forth between the other cheap periods.
This method is only really necessary for older inverters which have only one charge period. Newer inverters can be programmed with multiple charge periods using the GivEnergy portal.
