Setup questions for: Solar + AIO + “dumb” 3-pin EV + Agile import / export

26left

Hi all

Trying to get my head round how best to use WW and whether it’s right for me / functionally rich enough.

My situation

South East location
a 5.2kWh PV south-facing array
a GE 5kW hybrid inverter
a 13.5kWh (on a good day!) GE AIO,
a "dumb" 10kWh EV charges off the house load with a smart plug, and takes ₄ hours* to fully charge

I would like WW to:
1/ predict PV generation relative to battery and EV charging needs, and control battery grid charge and smart plug EV appropriately
1.1/ select the best 4 hours contiguous time window* on Agile to charge both AIO battery and EV in parallel to stop house battery draining into car battery (ideally with a "EV must be charged by YY:YY" option**)
2/ export from battery to grid if/when profitable to do so - and provided there is sufficient house battery charge to carry house load across expensive peak times / through to next cheap grid window...

(*) My understanding is that it's preferable to charge the house and car battery in one block, instead of lots of start / stop in fragmented 30 mins blocks via the GE app/ Tapo smart plug.

(**) Some days I know I'm taking the car out - so an overnight grid charge is necessary. But if grid charges overnight are high cost AND I don't need the car early in the day - I'm happy to wait until the middle of the day to charge the car when the grid is cheaper / PV generation is available etc.

So not much! :-D

For context:

The above is what I've been juggling manually every summer day after 4pm when Agile prices are announced. I'd check the forward agile prices, look at the forecast, and then eyeball setting the charge/discharge window for the GE battery via the Giv Energy app and the car via the Tapo app. The Octopus Compare app does a good job of this - but looks like WW can do this too by asking it to pick the best 8 x 30 slots on Agile.

In the winter, I change tariff to Go as the benefit of juggling all this seems marginal vs a static charge window for the house and car battery - and if anything I think the Go price is cheaper for me over the winter vs Agile (as I don’t export much).

From what I can tell

WW can predict forecast generation AND pick the best N x 30 mins slots for charging my AIO and EV. (And in Winter I I could tell WW to charge on a fixed timetable if I go back to Octopus Go.) But I will have to manually check what it’s setting as the best charge window, and sync my Tapo plug to the same window for my EV to prevent the AIO dynamically discharging into the car. Or use the hold function to prevent this from happening.
for Export, it’s on me to choose when and how much to Export. I can set a fixed discharge time and SOC% with WW, but WW does not dynamically pick the best Agile Export timing / pricing? Or based on how much I’ve consumed vs how long to the next cheap charging window?

I understand that I can do some/most of this via predbat / HA but I've not had the time or inclination to learn it / YAML - so was hoping WW will fill the gap.

I am aware that WW are looking to include smart plug controls so some syncing with a dumb EV is possible in the future.

Any advice / feedback much appreciated!

Thanks

26left

Capt_Rich

Would 26L be a ref to EGKK? ;-)

26left

Capt_Rich affirm!

nbullus

Agile charging does not use solar forecasting in WW at the moment (planned future change) so you need to select how many slots needed and WW will pick the lowest ones.

Agile export rates are not the best and it maybe better to move onto the Fixed 15p export and then setup an export schedule and discharge down to your desired SOC threshold just before your Agile charge window .

Predbat is very sophisticated, and although it does take a while to get your head round it, it can pay dividends just on the deafault settings by planning ahead with solar forecast, demand forecast and price forecast. I've had it installed in 'read only' mode to monitor its behaviour for a while now, but I finally turned it on in anger as a trial last night just before the Agile plunge pricing and it predicted an £18.11 credit for energy used over next 48 hr period. So far its on track to meet that prediction. Predbat is not for most users as you have to dive into the dark arts that is HA to be able to run it, so WW is a great middle ground service for most as its better and more flexible than the GE app whilst still being easy to setup and understand. I'm sure over time that features that are incorporated into Predbat will make its way onto WW.