If you have solar panels, some of your electricity is free. On a bright afternoon your panels may be generating more than your home is using, and anything left over is exported to the grid – usually for a lot less than you pay to buy electricity back later in the day.

That’s the opportunity Solar Sense is built around. It helps Homely spot the times your panels are likely to be generating more than you need, and work out whether it makes sense to use that excess to pre-heat your home or hot water – rather than exporting it cheaply now and importing at full price this evening.

Solar Sense is available as part of Smart+.

How it works

Add a few details about your solar set-up – the panels on each roof face and your export tariff – and Homely can estimate when your home is likely to be generating solar electricity. From there, Homely does the maths. It weighs your likely generation against your energy tariff and export rate and decides whether running your heat pump during solar hours is the better option. If it is, Homely shifts heating or hot water into that window. If it isn’t, it optimises as normal. Once it’s set up, Solar Sense runs automatically in the background. There’s nothing to manage day to day.

What Solar Sense doesn’t do

Solar Sense works entirely from the information you add about your panels. It doesn’t connect to or control your solar panels, inverter or battery, and it doesn’t need live data from your solar system – which is why there’s no extra hardware or installation work involved. How much difference it makes depends on your panels, your tariff and how your home uses energy. Solar Sense simply gives Homely a fuller picture so its optimisation decisions can take your solar into account.

Is Solar Sense right for my home?

Solar Sense is designed for homes where excess solar would otherwise be exported. It isn’t currently recommended if you also have battery storage, or an EV charger that diverts excess generation to your car – those systems are already competing for the same electricity, and Homely can’t currently see what they’re doing.

Keep your tariff up to date

Your energy tariff tells Homely what electricity costs at different times of day, and Solar Sense uses that alongside your export rate. If either tariff changes, update it in Homely so your optimisation keeps reflecting your current set-up.

Ready to get started?

Solar Sense is available to Smart+ customers. Our set-up guide walks you through adding your solar details and switching the feature on.