What Home Assistant provides
Home Assistant can collect battery state of charge, inverter power, solar generation, household demand, tariff data and other smart-home signals into dashboards and automations.
HOME ASSISTANT + PREDBAT
Advanced home battery control without the black box.
Home Assistant brings energy devices and data together. PredBat adds a planning engine that can forecast battery state, costs and charging decisions across the day.
This route offers unusually deep control, but it is a technical project rather than a set-and-forget consumer tariff. Compatibility and safe failover matter.
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PLAIN ENGLISHCHECKED SOURCESPRACTICAL NEXT STEPS
What PredBat adds
PredBat uses tariff rates, solar and load forecasts, battery capacity, charge and discharge power, efficiencies and export value to create a forward plan. It can update that plan as forecasts and actual use change.
Compatibility is integration-specific
PredBat documents support for a broad range of inverter ecosystems through local or cloud integrations. The exact model, firmware, API availability and write-control path still need to be checked.
Local and cloud routes differ
Local control can be fast and continue without an external cloud, but may need extra configuration or networking. Cloud control can be simpler to connect but relies on provider availability, credentials and API behaviour.
Build safe defaults
Keep manufacturer protections enabled, define sensible charge limits and make sure the inverter has a usable fallback schedule if the automation, network or tariff feed becomes unavailable.
PLAIN-ENGLISH FAQ
Questions homeowners ask.
Do I need Home Assistant to use PredBat?
The core PredBat project is designed for Home Assistant. A separately hosted PredBat Cloud proposition may have different requirements and terms.
Is PredBat free?
The core project documentation describes personal-use licensing at no cost and no warranty. Check the current licence and any separate hosted-service pricing.
Can PredBat work with Axle?
Axle says third-party scheduling can coexist with its Events Only mode. The event-control workflow and restoration of settings should still be understood and monitored.
Is this suitable for beginners?
It can be learned, but it suits people willing to configure integrations, read documentation and troubleshoot. A managed optimiser may be a better fit for a hands-off household.
CHECK YOUR NEXT STEP
Start with compatibility, then compare control.
Check your inverter ecosystem before choosing between grid-event rewards, managed optimisation or a self-managed setup.
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How home battery trading works
Understand grid events, tariff optimisation, export payments and the difference between earning and saving.
Read guide PROVIDER GUIDEAxle Energy explained
A plain-English guide to Axle grid events, eligibility, control, payments and the questions to check before joining.
Read guide GRID SERVICESWhat is a home battery VPP?
How thousands of connected batteries can act together — and what participation means for the homeowner.
Read guide EVERYDAY VALUEBattery optimisation explained
Compare automatic, supplier-managed and self-managed ways to charge, use and export stored energy.
Read guide COMPATIBILITYBattery brands and integrations
Why the inverter often determines compatibility, which connection methods matter and what to verify first.
Read guide