Good news for people with SMA home batteries: SMA has launched two new functionalities with which home batteries can be used more intelligently. This means SMA systems can deliver even more benefits, which will be particularly interesting from the moment the net metering system stops (on January 1, 2027).

The new features are called the 'Energy Maximizer' and the 'Energy Planner'. Both functionalities are now available for systems that meet certain requirements. We will list the requirements and the differences between the options here.

Energy Planner for the active home battery owner

The 'Energy Planner' offers the ability to choose what the battery should do for different time periods during the day: either charge (from the grid), or discharge (for example back to the grid when the electricity price is high), or simply only store the surpluses from solar power. In addition, the battery can also be used to only manage peaks in electricity demand (known as 'Peak Load shaving').

With the Energy Planner you can for example: charge your battery at night with cheap electricity; then discharge your battery during the morning peak to cover your own consumption and supply electricity back to the grid at a higher rate; then during the day store all excess solar power from the panels back in the battery; in the evening discharge the battery again for own use and supply to the grid at high rates; and start all over again at night.

The Energy Planner is ideal for people with home batteries and a dynamic energy contract, who enjoy actively managing the charging and discharging themselves. You can set it exactly as you wish for every day of the week, and change it at any time if that proves favorable. We explain in this article how that works.

Energy Maximizer for automatic optimization

The second option is an automated solution for people who don't necessarily want to be actively involved themselves. With this functionality, the system automatically takes into account current and future market prices for electricity, plus the weather forecast and the expected consumption in the home. The battery charges from the grid when that is favorable, discharges towards the grid when prices are high, and curtails the production of solar power at negative electricity prices. You don't have to do anything yourself, because the system takes all the work off your hands.

A nice feature of the Energy Maximizer is that thought has been given to a 'careful' charge of the battery. When the battery is (almost) charged to 100%, the supply of energy is reduced. That's because it's better for the battery's lifespan not to be at 100% charge for a long time. This function should therefore lead to a longer lifespan and a healthier battery.

However, in order to use the Energy Maximizer, SMA requires that you subscribe to a so-called 'Premium' account. This costs around €7 per month, and can be cancelled monthly. It is possible to take out a trial subscription for 3 months, so you can first see for a while whether the resulting savings are worth the subscription costs.

Requirements: an 'ennexOS'-based system, a battery (and a meter)

To use the new functions you must have a system that is 'ennexOS'-based. That means that the 'system manager' in the system is a device that runs on the ennexOS operating system (in other words: energy next Operating System).

The only residential inverter with that operating system is currently the 1-phase hybrid 'Sunny Boy Smart Energy' (SBSE) inverter. So in the beginning only customers with such an SBSE can participate.

In addition, the SBSE must be set as 'system manager'. Note: they usually are not! In most cases the Sunny Home Manager is set as 'system manager' and the SBSE as 'subordinate device'. To be able to participate, the roles of both devices will need to be reversed. That does require logging into the inverter and changing settings. Since that is quite complicated, you can best send an email to [email protected], we are happy to help you with this. 

Naturally both functions only work if there are one or more batteries connected to the SBSE.

For the Energy Maximizer, as mentioned, the 'SMA Premium' account must be activated; for the Energy Planner that is not necessary (so it is free).

What if you do not have an SBSE in the installation?

For people without SBSE the new functions are not yet available. But no worries, you can still use the dynamic control with the Sunny Home Manager. While this control delivers less than the Energy Maximizer (for example, there is no supply from the battery to the grid at high electricity prices, and the solar panels are not 'curtailed' at negative rates), on the other hand this function is free, and it can certainly control the battery intelligently, by charging with grid electricity at night in winter for example.

In the future (2027) SMA will come with an option to make the new functions available for installations without SBSE as well, we have been promised.

Overview of all the options

To make everything a bit more clear you will find below a list with the different options. SMA itself also has a document with more information; you can find it via this link. If you still have questions, let us know!