Quick answer
Send GridVolt the battery and inverter details, about 12 months of half-hourly import and export data, the site’s connection limits, tariff and any battery capacity needed for peak shaving, backup or solar. GridVolt uses this to work out what power and stored energy are really left for trading.
For a credible trading revenue estimate to present to your client, send GridVolt:
- Make and model of all installed batteries and inverters
- 12 months of half-hourly import and export data
- The site’s connection limits
- The tariff they are currently on
- Any battery power or stored energy the client needs to keep back for peak shaving, backup, solar use or another site job
GridVolt uses this information to calculate how much inverter power in kW and stored energy in kWh is left for trading after taking into account factors like peak shaving, backup reserves, tariff savings and connection limits.
Send GridVolt the battery, inverter and connection details
Start by sending GridVolt the make and model of all installed batteries and inverters.
Include, where available:
- Maximum continuous charge power in kW
- Maximum continuous discharge power in kW
- Usable battery capacity in kWh
- Minimum and maximum state of charge
- Power in kW kept for peak shaving or another site job
- Stored energy in kWh kept for backup or another site job
- Round-trip efficiency
- Warranty limits on cycles or energy throughput
- What currently controls the battery (like inverter settings, EMS, gateway or aggregator)
- The battery’s operating mode (whether it follows a fixed schedule, uses spare solar power on site, discharges at times of high on-site demand to reduce peak import, charges and discharges against a wholesale-linked tariff, or already receives instructions from another provider)
- Planned maintenance and known periods of downtime
- Details of the existing gateway, internet connection and any IT or site-network rules that could prevent the GridVolt controller from connecting to the battery or inverter
- The single-line diagram and connection agreement
- The agreed import and export capacities, any G100 limit, and any solar inverters, EV chargers or large site loads using the same grid connection
GridVolt uses the kW figures to check how much power the battery can charge or discharge at once. The usable kWh shows how long it can charge or discharge at that level. GridVolt uses the connection details to check whether other equipment may already use part of the site’s import or export headroom.
We also check whether the GridVolt controller can read battery data, such as state of charge, charge power, discharge power and availability, and send charge or discharge commands the inverter or controller can follow.
Gather as many equipment details as you can and ask GridVolt to check compatibility rather than trying to work this out yourself.
Send GridVolt the meter, tariff and site-use data
For the first estimate, send us:
- 12 months of half-hourly import and export data
- The import and export MPANs
- Any missing or estimated readings, meter changes, shutdowns, temporary loads and unusual production periods
- Confirmation that the site has half-hourly settlement, checked against the meter, MPAN details and bill
- The full import tariff by half-hour or tariff period
- The export rate or export agreement
- Half-hourly solar generation where available
- Normal opening and production hours
- Planned new loads
- What the client wants the battery to do first, such as peak shaving, backup or storing solar
- Any existing flexibility or trading contract
- Any fees or revenue-share terms in an existing flexibility or trading contract
- The metering route we can take
Most larger commercial sites already have half-hourly settlement. Some smaller businesses do not.
Market-wide Half-Hourly Settlement is bringing more sites across, but the rollout is still under way, so don’t expect every site to be half-hourly settled and ready for trading yet.
Keep your first estimate provisional until we have checked the meter, equipment, connection limits, tariff, battery power and stored energy the client wants to keep back, and commercial terms.
Related questions
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What trading revenue is realistic for a commercial battery in Great Britain?