FlexiO intelligently adjusts your energy management in winter: less sunshine, smaller price differences, but optimal savings and peak reduction.
Does FlexiO behave differently in winter than in summer? Yes, FlexiO's behaviour may be different, but the goal remains the same: optimal energy management for you. There will be less injection because there is little solar production.
During these months, FlexiO will respond more to your tariff if you have a dynamic tariff. If you have a fixed or variable tariff, you will see less activity on your installation in winter. This has everything to do with how energy prices and the electricity grid evolve throughout the seasons. We explain this in more detail in this blog:
A more stable market, fewer price differences
In winter, we usually see little to no solar production. However, wind energy complements solar energy. This means that in winter, prices are often low at night because there is a lot of wind energy available. As a result, the grid balancing market remains fairly stable.
With dynamic tariffs, FlexiO still ensures that your battery charges at cheaper times, usually at night, so that you can consume later in the day when prices rise. But if the differences are small, it sometimes simply does not pay to charge.
Focus on what pays off: reducing your monthly peak
Even in winter, the capacity tariff remains a significant cost item. That is why FlexiO continues to actively manage your consumption to keep your monthly peak as low as possible.
This smart approach ensures that you continue to save money, even in months with less solar energy production or small price differences. Do you have a fixed or variable rate? Then you will see that the battery is not always fully charged, but only to a limited extent. This is done to keep your monthly peak under control. With a fixed or variable rate, there are only small differences between the highest and lowest prices. Therefore, it is not worthwhile to always fully charge your battery (due to energy loss and battery degradation).
All costs included
FlexiO includes all actual costs in its calculations: grid costs, taxes, losses and battery wear. Charging or discharging therefore only takes place when it really pays off.
With a fixed or variable rate (or during the dark doldrums), the price differences are often too small to compensate for the wear and energy losses of a charging cycle. In that case, FlexiO deliberately chooses to do nothing. That may sound passive, but in reality it is the smartest and cheapest decision.
The system does continue to actively manage your monthly peak, because that is where you currently get the most benefit.
FlexiO continues to deliver returns even in quiet months
Due to limited solar and wind production, there can be a so-called “dark doldrums” in the winter months: a period with little renewable energy. This often lasts only a few weeks, but in exceptional cases it can be a longer period. As a result, the price differences are smaller, but your dynamic contract still delivers a profit.
Even though solar production is lower, the value of the savings remains the same.
This is because there is a lot of self-consumption and because the injected electricity still has a good value, without the need for battery cycles.
If we compare current solar production with last year's, the total value remains high, especially when we take into account the low solar production during the month of October.
Summary
- With a dynamic tariff or a Flexi tariff, you can reap many benefits from your smart battery management in winter.
- Do you have a variable or fixed tariff? Then FlexiO will only try to keep your monthly peak under control. It does this by only charging the battery a little. Fully charging it is not financially advantageous.
FlexiO ensures that your installation never wastes energy and only intervenes when it makes sense to do so. This allows you to avoid unnecessary costs and extend the life of your battery.
Sometimes, the smart thing to do is simply to do nothing, and that is exactly what FlexiO does for you.
