The dongle measures
The dongle in the inverter's communication port measures sun, consumption, battery and grid every 5 seconds.
How GridZeno works
From electricity price to a plan for your home.
GridZeno combines electricity prices, weather and your system's own measurements and makes a plan for every quarter hour. The dongle makes your inverter carry it out.
01 / THE PLAN
GridZeno
Electricity prices, the forecast and your consumption become a plan for every quarter of an hour, with a reason you can read.
Signed planMeasurements
02 / THE CONNECTION
Your dongle
Fetches the plan and carries it out locally over Modbus. It sits by your inverter, not in a cloud.
ModbusEvery 5 sec.
03 / YOUR SYSTEM
Sun & battery
Follows the plan and reports back what actually happens: sun, consumption, battery and grid.
GridZeno brings it all together
The electricity prices for every quarter hour with grid tariff, taxes and VAT, a solar forecast calculated for your particular roof, your own consumption and the limits you have set.
A plan for every quarter hour
A mathematical algorithm makes the plan for the battery and selling, with a reason for every quarter hour. It's recalculated every hour with Pro, every 3 hours with Smart and daily with Light, and straight away when tomorrow's prices arrive.
The dongle carries out the plan
With Smart and Pro, the dongle carries out the plan itself. With Light, you get it as a recommendation.
You stay informed
In the app you see what is happening, and why. You get a message by mail or push when something needs your attention, and a report on what your power was worth.
Where the solar power goesThe house first.
The house first.
Then whatever pays best.
When the sun produces more than the house uses, the surplus has to go somewhere. The house always comes first. Whether the rest goes into the battery straight away, is saved for later in the day or is sold depends on the selling price and on your subscription.
- 1The house first
What the house is using right now is covered by the sun. That's the most valuable way to use it.
- 2The battery takes the surplus
The battery can only hold so much. GridZeno saves the space for the surplus that's paid worst and sells what is paid best. On a morning with a good selling price, the battery may therefore wait and only charge in the afternoon. It ends up just as full, and the sales have earned more.
- 3The grid gets the rest
What can neither be used nor stored is sold. If the selling price is below zero, or the inverter is set not to sell, nothing is sold and the solar panels are turned down.
- Light
- GridZeno doesn't control the system. The inverter follows its own setting, which is usually the house, then the battery, then the grid.
- Smart and Pro
- As shown above. If you choose the strategy Maximise self-consumption, the order is fixed: the house, the battery, the grid, whatever the price.
- Pro with your own rules
- Your rules always win, e.g. "Don't sell to the grid" or "Hold the battery" for a period of time.
That's whyYour own power
Your own power
is worth the most.
A kWh you use yourself saves you the buying price. A kWh you sell only gives you the selling price. That's why it's best to use the solar power yourself or save it for an expensive hour, and only sell what is left over.
A real example
The battery charged while power was cheap and covered the house when it became expensive.
The electricity price changes every quarter hour. Here is a real example from our own system, from Thursday night to Friday morning: what power cost, what the battery did, and what it would have cost without GridZeno.
- Thu 00–05 · Charging cheaply from the gridAt 4 am power cost DKK 1.12. The battery was charged from 11 to 32 %, ready for the morning.
- Thu 05–08 · The battery covers the morningThe price rose to DKK 1.73. The house used power from the battery and bought almost nothing.
- Thu 08–13 · The sun takes overThe sun covered the house and put 3.7 kWh into the battery.
- Thu 13–17 · Charging while it's cheapThe sun delivered less than expected, so the battery was topped up from the grid at DKK 1.0 to 1.4. It reached 90 %.
- Thu 17–24 · The battery covers the eveningThe purchase price was DKK 2 to 3. The battery covered the house all evening and sold 2.6 kWh at the peak from 7 to 9 pm.
- Fri 00–09 · And the night and morning afterAt night power cost DKK 1.8 to 2 and in the morning up to DKK 2.8. The battery covered the house all the way and sold 2.2 kWh at the morning peak.
Without GridZenoDKK 10.06Calculated, the inverter decides on its own
With GridZenoDKK 6.46Measured on the electricity meter
Saved over 33 hoursDKK 3.60And the battery ended at 20 % against 13 %
Sell when it's expensiveBought at DKK 1.81.
Bought at DKK 1.81.
Sold at DKK 5.48.
Some days the price shoots up. On Monday 14 September, power cost DKK 7.42 at 19:00. This is how GridZeno would have used that day with Pro and the strategy Maximise savings.
- Mon 00–05 · Charging at nightPower cost around DKK 2. The battery was charged to 44 %, so it could cover the morning.
- Mon 05–10 · The battery covers the morningThe buying price rose to DKK 3.14. The house used power from the battery.
- Mon 10–13 · The sun charges the batteryThe sun covered the house, and the surplus went into the battery.
- Mon 13–17 · Filling the battery upIn mid-afternoon the price fell to DKK 1.81. The battery was filled right up for the evening.
- Mon 17–21 · Selling at the peakAt 19:00 power cost DKK 7.42. The battery covered the house and sold 4.6 kWh at up to DKK 5.48 per kWh.
- Mon 21–24 · The rest is used in the houseThe battery covered the rest of the evening while the price fell again.
- Tue 00–09 · And the night and morningThe battery covered the house until it was back at 12 % on Tuesday at 09:00.
Without GridZenoDKK 21.90The inverter decides on its own
With GridZenoDKK 4.82Pro, Maximise savings
Saved over 33 hoursDKK 17.08Both batteries ended at 12 %
Your subscriptionHow much the plan
See the prices and all features How much the plan
does for you.
The plan as a recommendation
You see the plan and the reason for it, but the dongle doesn't control the system. The plan is recalculated once a day.
The plan is carried out
The dongle controls the system by the plan: solar power is stored in the battery for the expensive hours, the battery is charged from the grid at negative prices, and selling stops when the selling price goes below zero and starts again when it pays. The plan is recalculated every 3 hours.
The plan also acts on the price
Everything in Light and Smart, plus: the battery is charged from the grid when power is cheap, and sells in the most expensive hours. The plan can look into tomorrow with a price forecast, and you can add your own rules on top. The plan is recalculated every hour.
Don't have a battery?You still get
You still get
a lot out of it.
Without a battery, GridZeno can't shift power in time. But it shows you what power costs and is worth, and it stops selling when you would otherwise pay to send power out.
Overview of sun and consumption
See what the system produces, what the house uses, and what you buy and sell, quarter hour by quarter hour.
Electricity prices with everything included
The price you actually pay and get, for every quarter hour today and tomorrow. Then you can put the laundry, the dishwasher and the electric car in the cheap hours.
Stop selling at negative prices
With Smart and Pro, selling stops when the selling price goes below zero, so you don't pay to send power out. It starts again when it pays.
Notifications and a report
A report on what your power was worth, and with Smart and Pro, a notification at negative and high prices.
Difference in one day: DKK 16.45
What happens if …When something
When something
goes wrong.
The internet goes down
The dongle follows the plan it has already fetched, and the plan reaches at least a day ahead. After 45 minutes without a connection it does what you have chosen: carries on with the plan or lets the inverter run on its own.
The power goes out
Your state of charge limits are stored in the inverter itself. When the dongle starts again, it sets the inverter back to its own setting and fetches a new plan.
The price is negative
With Smart and Pro, selling stops so you don't pay to send power out, and the battery is charged if there's room.
You want to decide yourself
Switch to Manual. The plan is still shown, but the dongle writes nothing to the inverter until you switch back.
What you needReady in
Ready in
15-30 minutes.
The time depends on the model. The dongle plugs into the inverter's communication port, and you do the rest from your browser. Some inverters have to be opened by an electrician. Check the guide for your model.
- An inverter on the listCheck your model on the compatibility list before you order.
- Power and networkA power socket near the inverter, and Wi-Fi or a network cable.
- 15-30 minutesPlug the dongle into the inverter's communication port, connect power, connect it to the network, and link it to your account from the app or the browser.
- A battery isn't requiredWith a battery, GridZeno can shift power in time. Without one, you still get the overview, prices and Stop selling at negative prices.
See for yourself
Try the demo Click around the real app.
The demo is the GridZeno app with a snapshot from our own system: the plan, the charts and the settings.
It starts with your systemReady for cheaper
Check your system Ready for cheaper
power?
Check whether your inverter fits, and let the plan charge the battery and sell power in the right quarter hours.