Virtual Energy Provider
The Virtual Energy Provider (VEP) is a dashboard device that brings all your solar and scheduling data together in one place. It shows you real-time effective prices, PV surplus, base load, and how many appliances are currently scheduled. It also adds flow triggers for automating loads beyond what the Scheduler handles — such as turning on a boiler or EV charger when conditions are right.
Note
The VEP is optional. Your Scheduler devices work with solar automatically once a PV Profiler is configured. The VEP adds a central dashboard and extra flow triggers.
When to add the VEP
Add a VEP after you have configured at least one PV Profiler. The VEP combines data from your PV Profiler(s) and all Scheduler devices into a single view.
Adding a VEP device
- Go to Devices → + (Add Device) → Power Profiler → Virtual Energy Provider
- No configuration is needed — it automatically connects to your existing PV and Scheduler data.
Dashboard capabilities
| Capability | What it means |
|---|---|
| Effective price | The price the scheduler uses right now — grid price adjusted for solar surplus (EUR/kWh) |
| Grid price | Current raw energy price from your provider (EUR/kWh) |
| Return price | Current feed-in tariff — what you earn per kWh of exported solar (EUR/kWh) |
| Surplus | Current PV surplus after household base load (watts). This is how much solar power is available for appliances right now. |
| Base load | Your household's current background power consumption (watts) |
| Available capacity | Surplus minus power reserved by scheduled appliances (watts). This is what is actually available for additional loads. |
| Scheduled devices | Number of appliances with active schedules |
Flow triggers
Use these triggers to automate loads that the Scheduler does not manage directly.
Surplus available
Fires when your PV surplus exceeds a threshold you set (in watts).
Use case: turn on a boiler or heat pump when enough solar energy is available.
Example: WHEN surplus available (VEP) > 1500 W → THEN turn on boiler
Effective price below threshold
Fires when the effective price drops below a value you set (in EUR/kWh).
Use case: run opportunistic loads when energy is cheap, whether from solar or low grid prices.
Example: WHEN effective price below €0.05 → THEN turn on hot water heater
Negative spot price
Fires when the grid price goes negative.
Use case: charge batteries or run heavy loads — when the price is negative, you are being paid to consume energy.
Example: WHEN negative spot price → THEN start EV charger
Flow conditions
Use these as guards (AND conditions) in your existing flows.
| Condition | What it checks |
|---|---|
| Effective price below | Whether the effective price is currently below a threshold you set |
| Surplus above | Whether PV surplus currently exceeds a threshold you set |
Daily energy statistics
The VEP tracks six daily statistics that help you understand your energy profile and size a home battery correctly. All values reset at midnight and are visible in Homey Insights.
| Capability | What it means |
|---|---|
| Surplus today | Total solar energy returned to the grid today (kWh) |
| Deficit today | Total energy drawn from the grid today (kWh) |
| Peak surplus today | Highest solar export rate recorded today (W) |
| Peak deficit today | Highest grid import rate recorded today (W) |
| Minimum load today | Lowest household consumption recorded today (W) — resets daily |
| Overall minimum load | Lowest household consumption ever recorded (W) — only resets via flow action |
Peak values are filtered: a new peak is only recorded when it appears in two consecutive readings, so brief inrush spikes from appliances starting up do not skew the result.
The minimum load values use the base load profile (grid + PV), not raw grid import. This means the value stays meaningful on sunny days when solar covers most of your consumption and grid import drops to zero.
Flow action: reset statistics
A flow action Reset VEP statistics lets you zero all six values manually. Use this when replacing a battery so you start collecting a fresh baseline.
Using the statistics to size a home battery
Capacity (kWh) — how big?
- Surplus today tells you how much energy goes back to the grid each day. A battery only helps up to this amount.
- Deficit today tells you how much you draw from the grid. This is the maximum a battery can save.
- Practical rule: size the battery at
min(average daily surplus, average daily deficit). Going larger offers little extra benefit.
Power rating (kW) — how fast?
- Peak surplus today determines the required charge rate. If your panels peak at 3500 W, a battery with a 2500 W charge limit cannot absorb all that energy.
- Peak deficit today determines the required discharge rate. If your peak grid draw is 4200 W, the battery must be able to deliver at least that.
- Practical rule: choose a battery whose charge and discharge power ratings match or exceed both peak values.
Standby consumption — will it last through the night?
- Minimum load / overall minimum load is your household's standby consumption: what the house draws when nothing active is running.
- Divide your battery capacity by the minimum load to estimate how many hours it can cover. For example, 5 kWh ÷ 200 W = 25 hours — well beyond a single night.
Example
| Metric | Example value | Conclusion |
|---|---|---|
| Average surplus today | 6 kWh | Battery larger than 6 kWh adds little value |
| Average deficit today | 4 kWh | 4 kWh capacity covers the full deficit |
| Peak surplus today | 3500 W | Charge rate ≥ 3.5 kW needed |
| Peak deficit today | 4200 W | Discharge rate ≥ 4.2 kW needed |
| Overall minimum load | 180 W | A 5 kWh battery covers ~27 hours of standby |
In this example a 5 kWh / 5 kW battery is a good fit. Larger capacity has low return; higher power would be wasted.
Tip
Observe these values for at least two to four weeks across different weather before drawing conclusions. A single sunny week gives an overly optimistic picture.