A home battery and a smart charging station both want the same thing: draw as little power from the grid as possible and send as little back as possible. Without the right settings, they end up working against each other. Here is how to make them work together.
Why the battery and the charging station can get in each other’s way
Your home battery’s software aims for zero net consumption. Solar charging does exactly the same. The result: the charging station sees no surplus because the battery is already absorbing it, or the battery discharges into your car because it tries to compensate for the charging station’s consumption.
Emptying a 5 to 15 kWh home battery into a 50 to 80 kWh car battery achieves little and costs your battery charge cycles. Let the sun go straight into the car, and keep the battery for your home.
Which installation do you have?
The right setting depends on how your battery is connected.
Hybrid inverter: solar panels and battery on one inverter
In that case the meter cannot tell whether the power comes from the panels or the battery. Smappee solves this with the Hybrid solar inverter setting. It allows a small export of around 200 W. Your battery sees that export and slows its discharge, so the car charges on solar only.
Separate battery inverter: battery added later
In that case the battery can be measured separately. A current clamp on the battery inverter cable, configured as a storage-type sub-meter, gives the charging station an accurate picture of what the battery is doing.
What you can set yourself
- Choose solar chargingPut your charging station in Solar charging mode. How to do that is explained in solar charging with Smappee.
- Set Grid support to 0 AWith a hybrid inverter this is a requirement. Your car then charges exclusively on surplus.
- Check your battery settingsMany battery systems let you limit discharge or give the battery priority up to a certain charge level. Set them so the battery powers your home in the evening, not your car.
Is adding a home battery worth it?
That depends on your consumption profile, your energy contract and the capacity tariff. A charging station that charges smartly on solar often already captures most of the savings, without a battery. In our article on combining charging stations with solar panels and batteries, we do the maths for you.
Make your installation work together
We review your inverter, battery and charging station and fine-tune everything.
- Check of metering and inverter
- Correct setup of charging station and battery
- Advice on return and capacity tariff
Based on Smappee’s documentation at the time of publication. Options differ per battery brand and inverter type.