Objective
Spot-price-optimized battery management allows households to source the most affordable and cleanest electricity by making intelligent decisions regarding the charging and discharging sessions of a battery. The algorithm combines AI-based forecasts and dynamic adjustments to current spot market electricity prices to efficiently manage electricity consumption, storage, and grid feed-in.
How it works
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Consumption and generation forecast: Using artificial intelligence, a precise forecast of the household's electricity consumption and generation is created for the coming hours. This takes into account factors such as:
- Historical consumption data
- Weather forecasts for PV generation
- Household habits
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Schedule calculation: Based on the forecasts and current spot market electricity prices (including all surcharges), dynamic schedules are calculated every 5 minutes. These consider:
- The current state of charge (SOC) and the capacity of the battery storage
- Spot market electricity prices sourced directly from the exchange
- Feed-in tariffs
- Storage losses and potential profit
- Dynamic decision logic: The algorithm decides in real time which of the following strategies is optimal:
a) Pause discharging:
- If grid import is cheaper than the self-consumption of the battery, the discharging session is paused. This preserves the battery and maintains its capacity for hours when grid import is more expensive.
b) Battery charging from the grid during forecasted grid import:
- If the current spot market electricity price is lower than the forecasted grid import costs in more expensive hours, the battery is charged accordingly.
- Storage losses and potential profit are taken into account to ensure the charging session remains economical.
c) Battery charging from the grid at very low electricity prices:
- If the current spot market electricity price (including all surcharges) is lower than the feed-in tariff, the battery is charged from the grid. This increases profit.
- Storage losses are also considered here to ensure maximum efficiency.
d) Self-consumption optimization:
- If neither pausing discharge nor charging from the grid is economically advantageous, the battery is used as usual to maximize self-consumption.
Charging
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When is my battery storage charged from the grid?
Your battery storage is automatically charged from the grid when the current electricity price (including charging losses and wear) is lower than the average price of the coming hours.
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How is the price difference calculated?
Charging involves losses (typically approx. 20%). We account for this and add the wear of your battery storage (approx. 8%). The actual price is therefore about 25–30% higher than the spot market price.
Example: - Current price: 10 ct/kWh
- With losses and wear: approx. 12.8 ct/kWh
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Average price of the coming hours: 15 ct/kWh
→ The battery storage charges because 12.8 ct < 15 ct
Why does this make sense?
Even with losses, it is worth charging now if you would otherwise have to purchase expensive electricity later. This optimizes your costs.
Pausing
Why is my battery storage sometimes paused (neither charging nor discharging)?
We pause the battery storage when the current price is among the cheapest required to cover the expected energy demand of the coming hours.
When is it paused?
- There will be expected grid import in the next 16 hours
- The available battery capacity is not sufficient to cover the entire expected demand
- The current price is among the cheapest slots required to cover the demand
Why does this make sense?
If the current price is among the cheapest required to cover the expected demand, we do not discharge now. The energy remains in the battery storage for later when the price is higher. This optimizes costs.
Example:
- Current price: 12 ct/kWh
- Expected demand in the coming hours: 5 kWh
- Available battery capacity: 3 kWh
- The current price is among the cheapest required
→ Pause: Energy is saved for later when the price is higher