Energy Storing and Routing

Renewable energy production rarely matches consumption perfectly in time. Storage and routing mechanisms make it possible to reduce losses, increase self-consumption, and improve autonomy.

Monitoring provides the information required to decide where energy should go at any given moment.

Routing defines priorities between different energy destinations. A typical hierarchy may include:

• Immediate household consumption
• Battery charging
• Thermal storage (hot water, heating)
• Export to the electricity grid

These priorities can be static or dynamically adjusted based on monitoring data, forecasts, or user preferences.

Batteries store electrical energy for later use. Their behaviour is defined by capacity, charge and discharge power, efficiency, and ageing characteristics.

Monitoring battery state of charge (SoC), power flows, and cycle count is essential to maximise lifespan and usefulness.

Thermal storage uses surplus energy to heat water or building mass. It is often simpler and cheaper than electrical storage, though less flexible.

Typical examples include hot water tanks, buffer tanks, and underfloor heating systems.

When storage is full or unavailable, surplus energy can be exported to the grid. Conversely, energy can be imported when local production and storage are insufficient.

Monitoring import and export flows helps evaluate economic and environmental impacts.

Modern systems increasingly rely on automation to route energy efficiently. Controllers can react faster than manual intervention and take into account multiple parameters simultaneously.

Automation strategies may include time-based rules, threshold-based decisions, or forecast-driven optimisation.

Effective monitoring closes the loop between production, consumption, balance, and storage. It allows users to verify whether routing strategies deliver the expected benefits.

Over time, this feedback supports continuous improvement of both technical settings and user behaviour.