Understanding your SmartShift Automation Explainers

SmartShift battery automation explainers are short text descriptions that help your understand what your system is doing now - and what’s planned next. You’ll find them in two places within the ‘Devices’ tab:

• At the top of the ‘Live’ and ‘Plan’ screens: A quick summary of what your battery and system are doing right now
• Above for forecast chart on the 'Plan' screen: A more detailed description of planned battery actions for today (including past and forecast). These plans are based on the current forecast so can change throughout the day as new forecasts and data from your system come in.

How they work

These summaries update every 5 minutes, using the latest available data from your system. Sometimes, explainers may temporarily reflect outdated information if we have not yet received the latest data from your device at the beginning of the 5 minute period. If the messages appear confusing or incorrect this will usually correct itself in the next interval.

What’s new?

You might notice these descriptions look a little different than they used to. That’s because we’ve just rolled out improvements to make them clearer, more accurate, and more consistent. This has been based on feedback from customers. We always value customer feedback, and if you have any feedback on this update, please share it here.

What do the battery states mean?

You’ll see the explainers mention different battery states. Here’s a quick guide:

• Dispatching: Your battery is being directed by SmartShift to discharge energy to the grid. This typically happens when export prices are high.
• Charging: Your battery is being directed by SmartShift to charge energy from the grid. This typically happens when import prices are low.
• Preserving: The battery is being directed by SmartShift to hold its current state of charge in reserve for later.
• Self-consuming: Your battery is in self-consumption mode - its standard mode of operating. In this state your battery is not importing or exporting to the grid. It will power your home when needed and charge from solar when there’s excess.

Why we think this update is important

We know how important it is for customers to feel confident about how their battery is being automated. By improving how we communicate what’s happening and what’s planned, we’re helping put you in the driver’s seat. That means fewer surprises, clearer decisions, and more trust in the SmartShift and how your system is running.

For a deeper dive into how SmartShift works, learn more about Your Amber for Batteries automation plan.