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Advanced Features

bolagnaise edited this page Apr 19, 2026 · 20 revisions

Advanced Features

AEMO Spike Detection (All Battery Systems)

Automatic battery discharge during AEMO wholesale price spikes for VPP participation (Globird, AGL, Engie).

Tesla Powerwall

When prices exceed your configured threshold (e.g., $300/MWh):

  1. Saves your current tariff configuration and operation mode
  2. Uploads a spike tariff to trigger battery export
  3. Restores original operation mode and tariff when the spike ends

All Other Battery Systems (FoxESS, Sungrow, GoodWe, Solax)

Works with any battery system that supports force charge/discharge:

  1. Detects when AEMO price reaches your configured threshold (e.g. $3000/MWh)
  2. Forces battery to discharge to the grid
  3. Sends push notification when spike starts
  4. Restores normal operation when spike ends
  5. Sends push notification when spike ends

Note: Sigenergy users on Globird don't need this feature as Globird natively supports Sigenergy for spike exports.

Monitoring Frequency: Checks AEMO prices every 1 minute.


Solar Curtailment

Prevents paying to export solar during negative pricing periods (price at or below 0c/kWh).

Battery System Behavior
Tesla Sets export to "never", restores to normal when prices recover
Sigenergy Sets export limit to 0kW (load-following mode)
FoxESS Limits inverter output to zero export, restores on positive prices

Load-Following Mode (Sigenergy/FoxESS):

  • Solar continues powering the house
  • Battery still charges from solar
  • Only grid export is blocked during negative prices

Spike Protection (Amber Only)

Prevents your battery from charging from the grid during Amber price spikes. When wholesale prices spike, your battery may see an arbitrage opportunity and charge from grid — this feature stops that.

When Amber reports a potential or active price spike, buy prices are overridden to ensure charging from grid is unprofitable during the spike.


Export Price Boost

Artificially increases export prices sent to your battery system to trigger exports at lower price points. Useful when Amber export prices are in the 20–25c range where the battery's algorithm may not trigger exports.

Setting Description Default
Enable Export Price Boost Toggle on/off Off
Price Offset (c/kWh) Fixed amount added to all export prices 0
Minimum Price (c/kWh) Floor for export prices 0
Activation Threshold (c/kWh) Boost only applies at or above this value 0
Boost Start Time When to start applying boost 17:00
Boost End Time When to stop applying boost 21:00

Anti-arbitrage guard (v2.4.2+): Export Boost is capped to prevent the optimizer from importing electricity from the grid to charge the battery for later export at inflated prices. If real arbitrage is already profitable, the full boost applies.


Chip Mode

Suppress battery exports during configured hours (typically overnight) unless the price exceeds a threshold.

Setting Description Default
Enable Chip Mode Toggle on/off Off
Start Time When to start suppressing exports 22:00
End Time When to stop suppressing exports 06:00
Price Threshold (c/kWh) Allow exports only above this price 30

AC-Coupled Inverter Curtailment

Control AC-coupled solar inverters directly during negative pricing periods. Works with any battery system.

Supported Inverter Brands

Brand Connection Models
Sungrow Local network SG series (string), SH series (hybrid)
Fronius Local network Primo, Symo, Gen24/Tauro, Eco
GoodWe Local network ET, EH, BT, BH, ES, EM series (hybrid)
Huawei Local network SUN2000 L1, M1, M2 series
Enphase Local network IQ Gateway, Envoy-S (microinverters)
Zeversolar Local network TLC series, Zeversolair Mini/TL
FoxESS Local network H1, H3, H3-Pro, H3 Smart, KH
Solax Local network or HA entity All generations (GEN2-GEN6)
Sigenergy Local network Grid export limit control

Load-Following Mode (v2.5.0+)

All supported AC inverter brands support load-following curtailment. Instead of curtailing to zero export, the inverter output is limited to match your current home load. Solar continues powering the house and charging the battery — only grid export is blocked.

Load-following is applied automatically when home load data is available. If load data is unavailable, it falls back to zero-export.

A fast 30-second update timer re-applies the limit as home load changes, keeping the inverter in step with consumption.

For full per-brand setup instructions see AC-Coupled Inverter Curtailment.


Push Notifications (v2.5.0+)

PowerSync sends push notifications to the mobile app for key events:

Event Notification
AEMO spike start Battery discharging during price spike
AEMO spike end Normal operation restored
Automation action failure Service call failed (e.g. charger unreachable)
Force mode timeout Force charge/discharge timer expired

Notifications require the mobile app to be connected and push notifications enabled.


Free Electricity Periods (v2.5.0+)

When your electricity provider offers free electricity windows (e.g. Contact Energy Good Weekends/Good Nights in NZ), the optimizer automatically detects 0 c/kWh import intervals and prioritises charging during these periods.

During free electricity periods:

  • The optimizer prefers charging actions
  • The schedule chart reflects the expected rapid state-of-charge increase

Powerwall Off-Grid Control (v2.12.0+)

Direct off-grid and reconnect control for Tesla Powerwall from the PowerSync mobile app and automations. Supports both Powerwall 2 and Powerwall 3 — PW3 islanding is the first known third-party implementation.

Setup

Powerwall 3:

  1. Pair your Powerwall — go to Settings > Battery Setup > Pair Gateway and complete the pairing process (requires physical access to toggle the DC isolator)
  2. Off-grid controls appear in Settings > Battery Setup > Local Control

Powerwall 2:

  1. Enter gateway IP in Settings > Battery Setup > Gateway Connection
  2. Off-grid controls appear automatically — no pairing needed

Both versions support the powerwall_go_off_grid and powerwall_reconnect_grid automation actions.

Off-Grid Curtailment

When enabled, PowerSync can automatically take your Powerwall off-grid during negative price periods to avoid paying to export. This uses the same physical off-grid command as the Tesla app.

Enable in Settings > Battery Setup > Local Control > Off-Grid Curtailment.

Safety gates:

  • Minimum SOC floor — won't go off-grid below this battery level (default 20%)
  • Daily duration cap — limits total off-grid time per day (default 4 hours)
  • Automatic reconnection when prices recover

HA Services

Service Description
power_sync.powerwall_go_off_grid Physically disconnect from grid
power_sync.powerwall_reconnect_grid Reconnect to grid

Requirements

  • Tesla Powerwall 2 or 3
  • PW3: Completed gateway pairing + PowerSync proxy token or Fleet API token
  • PW2: Gateway IP and customer password (no pairing needed)
  • Gateway reachable on your local network

Demand Charge Tracking

Monitor peak demand for capacity-based electricity plans.

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