Strategy
Off, shadow, active — what each mode does, how to switch it on, and where to see what it did.
The strategy is what turns the controller from a meter into an energy manager: it plans the next hours from prices, the PV forecast and the expected load, and drives the batteries and chargers that take part.
It is off when the controller is delivered. Until someone switches it on, the controller measures and shows values, but it neither plans nor controls anything.
The three modes
The mode is set on the Strategy (Strategie) page of the Edge Platform, in the Schedule timeline (Zeitplan-Timeline) card at the top, under Rollout mode (Betriebsmodus).
| Mode | What the controller does |
|---|---|
| OFF (AUS) | Computes nothing. No plan, no control. |
| SHADOW (SHADOW) | Plans and records what it would do, but sends nothing to the devices. |
| ACTIVE (AKTIV) | Follows its plan: dispatches the batteries and EV charging that take part. |
Shadow mode is the observation step. Leave it running for a few days — ideally a full cycle of cheap and expensive days — and look at what the controller would have done before you let it act.
The mode is kept across restarts and updates. A controller switched to active stays active.
Before you switch it on
- The site is set up. In the Edge Platform, Settings → Site Setup lists location, the built-in meter, weather, electricity price, tariff and devices. The Scheduler (Zeitplaner) row shows the current mode.
- The devices take part. Under Devices in the optimisation (Geräte in der Optimierung) on the Strategy page, each battery has a switch Takes part in the optimisation (Nimmt an der Optimierung teil). A newly registered battery is not handed to the controller until you switch it on. With several batteries, Priority (Priorität) sets which carries first.
- The preferences match the site — see below.
Switch to active
- Open Strategy in the Edge Platform.
- Under Rollout mode, choose SHADOW. It applies immediately; the timeline starts showing plans.
- After the observation period, choose ACTIVE.
- Confirm Switch to ACTIVE? (Auf AKTIV umschalten?) with Switch to active (Auf aktiv schalten). From now on the controller drives real devices.
Going back to SHADOW or OFF needs no confirmation and applies immediately.
Preferences
Under Planning strategy (Planungsstrategie) → What the planner optimises for (Wonach der Planer optimiert). Changes take effect on the next planning round; nothing needs to restart.
| Switch | When delivered | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Price optimisation (Preisoptimierung) | On | Shifts charging and discharging by the day-ahead price |
| Charging from the grid (Laden aus dem Netz) | On | Lets batteries charge from the grid, not only from PV |
| Battery arbitrage (Speicher-Arbitrage) | Off | Lets batteries discharge into the grid when the feed-in price pays more than keeping the energy. Needs a feed-in price in the tariff |
| Battery wear cost (Batterieverschleiß bewerten) | On | Prices what a cycle costs the battery, so the plan only cycles when it earns more than it wears |
Charging from the grid is on by default. If the batteries at this site should only charge from PV, switch it off before going active.
Battery backup energy (Reserveenergie der Batterien) sets how much the plan holds back for forecasts that turn out wrong: Cautious (Vorsichtig), Balanced (Ausgewogen, the default) or Aggressive (Offensiv).
Below that, two forms add targets the plan has to meet:
- EV charging target (EV-Ladeziel) — how much energy a car needs by its departure time.
- Battery reserve (Batteriereserve) — keep a battery at a state of charge over a time window, e.g. 80 % from 17:00 to 20:00.
Both appear under Commitments (Zusagen), where they can be withdrawn.
The timeline
Timeline (Zeitverlauf) in the Edge Platform's navigation shows what happened, what is planned, and what it was worth — by default 24 hours back and 48 hours ahead:
- Saved and earned (Gespart und verdient) — the result of the period, compared against defined baselines (the page explains each one).
- Power and price (Leistung und Preis) — measured and planned power for PV, load, battery and grid, against the buy and sell price.
- Plan (Fahrplan) — what the controller intends to do next, and why.
In OFF mode there is no plan; the Strategy page then says the scheduling plane is not running and asks you to enable shadow mode to see plans.
Screenshots of the mode switch, the preferences card and the timeline in shadow mode. The tutorial video for this page is planned.