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    Battery Control Strategies

    Pick the strategy that matches what you want the battery to do today — switch any time from the Home Assistant dashboard.

    Pick by goal

    I want to… Use Setup
    Use my own energy, keep grid meter at 0 Watt Self-consumption Setup
    Save money on a dynamic / hourly tariff Dynamic (or Dynamic v2 lab) Setup
    Charge/discharge on a fixed clock Timed –
    Fill the battery now (outage, cheap window) Charge Setup
    Sell stored energy at a price peak Sell –
    Soak up solar surplus only Charge PV –
    Never import from the grid Zero import –
    Stay idle, only act on grid peaks (capacity tariff) Standby / peak shave Setup
    Halt all battery activity Full stop –

    At a glance — capabilities

    Strategy Grid→Bat PV→Bat Bat→Home Bat→Grid Needs PV Needs price feed
    Self-consumption – ✅ ✅ – recommended –
    Dynamic ⚙️ ⚙️ ⚙️ ⚙️ – ✅
    Timed ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ – –
    Charge ✅ ✅ – – – –
    Sell – – – ✅ – recommended
    Charge PV – ✅ – – ✅ –
    Zero import – – ✅ – – –
    Standby / peak shave only on peak only on peak only on peak only on peak – –
    Full stop – – – – – –

    ⚙️ = depends on the sub-strategy selected for that period.

    PV = photovoltaic aka solar panel energy

    Peak Shaving = a system-wide feature that piggybacks on most strategies — see Peak Shaving in Advanced Features except the Full stop strategy, which completely passifies the batteries.

    Switching strategies

    All strategies are selectable from the Home Battery Control dashboard. Most settings live in the dashboard’s Settings tab; per-strategy details below note when extra setup is required.

    🔋 Core

    🔋 Self-consumption (mandatory)

    Maintains ~0 W grid power with a PID controller: battery charges from solar surplus and discharges to cover home loads.

    Best for: the baseline “use my own energy” mode — also the engine other strategies build on.
    Setup: PID tuning recommended — see Self-consumption Setup Guide.
    Flow: 02 strategy-self-consumption.json

    • Always configure this one — it is used internally by Charge PV, Zero import, Dynamic, and Timed.

    🎯 Goal-driven

    🎯 Charge (from grid)

    Forces the battery to charge from the grid until a configurable goal is met, then switches to a follow-up strategy.

    Best for: preparing for power outages, pre-charging before expensive hours, or topping up on a cheap night tariff.
    Setup: Dashboard. Solar-forecast goal: see Solar Forecast Setup.
    Flow: 02 strategy-charge.json

    Charge goals (pick one)

    • Batteries full — charge to each battery’s max SoC (respects cutoff settings).
    • Energy reserve (kWh) — charge to a fixed target.
    • State of charge (%) — charge to a fixed SoC.
    • Solar forecast — auto-calculates how much grid charging is needed given today’s forecast.

    After goal reached — the strategy hands off to whichever follow-up you pick on the dashboard:

    • Charge PV (default) — keep topping up from solar surplus.
    • Self-consumption — start using the stored energy.
    • Full stop — hold the charge for a known peak later.
    • Zero import — discharge only what’s needed to avoid grid imports.

    Power mode: Maximum (fastest) or Grid power limit (PID-controlled). Configure in the Settings tab — see Charge / Sell Power Mode.

    🎯 Sell (to grid)

    Discharges the battery to the grid for profit during high prices, until a configurable floor is reached.

    Best for: dynamic-tariff users with a price peak, or anyone compensated for grid export.
    Setup: Dashboard.
    Flow: 02 strategy-sell.json

    Stop conditions (pick one)

    • All batteries at minimum SoC — discharge until every battery hits its floor.
    • Average SoC (%) — stop at an average across all batteries (per-battery floors are still respected).
    • Energy floor (kWh) — avoid depleting completely.

    After goal reached — the strategy hands off to your selected follow-up:

    • Charge PV (default) — refill from solar surplus.
    • Self-consumption — use remaining capacity for home loads.
    • Full stop — keep the battery idle until you switch manually.
    • Zero import — keep covering home loads from what’s left, without grid import.

    Power mode: Maximum or Grid power limit — see Charge / Sell Power Mode.

    💶 Price-driven

    💶 Dynamic

    Picks a sub-strategy per period based on hourly tariffs: a cheapest block, an expensive block, and the regular hours in between.

    Best for: dynamic / hourly energy contracts where you want to capture the daily price spread.
    Setup: Cheapest Energy Hours integration + a price data source — see Dynamic Strategy Setup.
    Flow: 02 strategy-dynamic.json

    Period Default Configurable options
    Cheapest Charge Charge, Charge PV
    Expensive Self-consumption Self-consumption, Sell, Zero import
    Regular Charge PV Charge PV, Self-consumption, Zero import, Full stop

    Smart activation: the cheapest block only fires below a configurable tariff threshold, and the expensive block only fires when the price spread exceeds the minimum delta.

    💶 Dynamic v2 — lab feature

    🧪 A redesigned Dynamic strategy that evaluates every price interval individually instead of fixed N-hour blocks. Lab feature — behavior may change between releases. Full guide: Dynamic Strategy v2.

    Flow: 02 strategy-dynamic-2.json

    ⏰ Time-driven

    ⏰ Timed

    Charges or discharges according to a fixed daily schedule with up to three configurable time windows.

    Best for: time-of-use tariffs and predictable daily routines (cheap night rate, expensive evening peak).
    Setup: Dashboard — set the time windows.
    Flow: 02 strategy-timed.json

    • Each window can independently charge, discharge, or idle.
    • Shares charge / Charge PV / Self-consumption settings with the Dynamic strategy.

    ☀️ PV-aware / passive

    These three strategies share a single Node-RED flow (02 strategy-partials.json) — import it once and all three become available.

    ☀️ Charge PV

    Charges the battery only when surplus solar is available — never draws from the grid, never discharges.

    Best for: sunny days when you just want to soak up free solar without grid round-tripping.
    Setup: None.
    Flow: 02 strategy-partials.json

    • Battery never discharges in this mode — any grid imports are not buffered.
    • Soft-stops the battery when PV drops, avoiding relay chatter.
    • Migration: the standalone 02 strategy-charge-pv.json is deprecated in v4.10.0. After importing 02 strategy-partials.json, remove the old Strategy Charge PV tab.

    ☀️ Zero import

    Uses stored energy to cover home loads while blocking grid imports; surplus PV exports as usual.

    Best for: maximizing self-reliance — capacity tariffs, post-saldering tariffs, or anywhere imports are penalized.
    Setup: None.
    Flow: 02 strategy-partials.json

    • Charging is disabled — surplus PV always exports, never to the battery.
    • Battery discharges until empty; after that, home loads pull from grid (unavoidable).
    • Opposite of Charge PV — also available as a Dynamic sub-strategy and as an after-goal option on Charge/Sell.

    ☀️ Standby / peak shave

    Battery idles by default; activates only when grid power exceeds the configured import or export limit, then peak-shaves until the grid drops back.

    Best for: capacity-tariff contracts (CAPTAR) and homes near their connection limit — minimizes battery wear by acting only on peaks.
    Setup: Dashboard — set the import / export power limits.
    Flow: 02 strategy-partials.json

    • Thresholds: import limit and export limit (W), each independently toggleable. See Grid Power Limits.
    • Hysteresis: peak-shaving releases ~10 s after grid power returns below the limit (prevents chatter).
    • This is the only strategy where the battery is exclusively a peak-shaver — other strategies peak-shave on top of their normal behavior.

    ⏹ Off

    ⏹ Full stop

    Halts all battery operations.

    Best for: maintenance, testing, emergency situations.
    Setup: None.
    Flow: 02 strategy-full-stop.json

    • Takes precedence over Peak Shaving — the battery stays idle.

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