System architecture
GridPassport turns energy signals into calm household decisions.
A good home energy management system does not merely show flows on a dashboard. It decides when flexible devices should run, charge, pause or reserve energy without turning the home into a hobby project.
Inputs
What the system sees
- Solar generation and weather forecast
- Home load and recurring behavior
- Battery state of charge and reserve target
- Electricity price curves and tariff rules
- EV charging deadline and requested range
- Climate comfort target and thermal inertia
Forecast, prioritize, act.
Outputs
What the home does
- Charges battery when the timing is rational
- Protects backup reserve before risk windows
- Moves EV charging to better energy windows
- Uses solar surplus before exporting blindly
- Pre-cools or pre-heats without discomfort
- Shows outcomes instead of raw complexity
The operating loop
GridPassport follows a simple loop: measure the home, forecast what comes next, decide the best action, execute locally when possible, then learn from the outcome. That loop matters because home energy is no longer static. Solar output changes by the minute. Dynamic tariffs can change by market interval. EVs and batteries add large flexible loads. Climate devices shape comfort and demand at the same time.
What makes the problem hard
Most devices optimize for their own success. An EV charger wants to charge the car. A battery wants to follow its configured mode. A heat pump wants to meet temperature. A solar inverter wants to manage generation and export. The home needs a higher-level priority system that can decide what matters most right now.
Why comfort is part of the algorithm
Pure price optimization can make a home annoying. GridPassport treats comfort as a first-class constraint. A house that saves a little money by becoming unpleasant has failed the product test.
S2 interoperability
Compatible devices can describe their flexibility instead of receiving a blind schedule.
GridPassport supports S2 (EN 50491-12-2) as a local Customer Energy Manager. It can include flexibility offered by a compatible device in the same multi-hour plan used for solar, batteries, tariffs, import, export and backup reserve.
Read the plain-English S2 guide- Local relationshipPairing, the S2 session and control stay on the home network. Cloud assistance is limited to discovery when needed.
- Five control familiesPPBC, OMBC, PEBC, FRBC and DDBC are supported in the implemented profile.
- Device authorityThe device keeps responsibility for its physical limits and can reject an unsafe instruction.
- Optional extensionHomes without S2 devices continue to use the normal GridPassport planning path.
Evidence base
The category is already forming.
HEMS research and commercial products increasingly point in the same direction: connected residential energy devices need optimization across solar, storage, flexible loads and market signals.
- IEA 4E EDNA: Residential HEMS and controllers
Defines HEMS as systems that connect residential energy devices and optimize generation, storage and consumption.
- Polish Energy Regulatory Office: dynamic price contracts
Official context for dynamic electricity contracts in Poland, including smart meter requirements and 2024 adoption.
- Tesla Virtual Power Plant
A consumer example of home batteries supporting the grid and earning incentives.
- SMA Sunny Home Manager 2.0
A mature HEMS reference for dynamic tariffs, EV charging, heat pumps and battery control.
- SPAN smart electrical panels
A premium infrastructure reference for circuit-level energy control and battery backup.
- Ford F-150 Lightning Home Power Management
A consumer-facing EV example where home power, backup and energy optimization are starting to converge.
- EcoFlow Home Energy Ecosystem
A market reference for solar, battery storage, smart circuit control, EV charging and app-based home energy control.
- U.S. Department of Energy: Demand Response
Defines demand response as reducing or shifting electricity usage during peak periods in response to time-based rates or financial incentives.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration: time-based rate programs
Official context for time-based electricity rate programs, including time-of-use, real-time, variable peak and critical-peak pricing.
- European Commission: electricity prices
European policy context for electricity prices, retail bills, market participants and consumer exposure to energy price components.
- ACER: EU network code on demand response
European regulatory context for demand response resources, flexibility and distributed energy participation in electricity markets.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration: negative wholesale electricity prices
Explains how wholesale electricity prices can fall below zero when generators pay to produce power under certain market conditions.
- U.S. Department of Energy: utility rate options
Explains time-of-use and dynamic rate structures, including rates that vary by set periods or more directly with market conditions.
- ENERGY STAR: Smart Home Energy Management Systems criteria
Public criteria for connected home energy services, device control, user overrides, time-of-use response, privacy and cybersecurity reporting.
- S2 Standard: official introduction
Introduces S2 as EN 50491-12-2 and explains energy flexibility, Customer Energy Manager and Resource Manager responsibilities.
- S2 Documentation: S2 Connect specification
Official protocol documentation for secure discovery, pairing and communication between S2 energy resources and an energy management system.
- S2 Documentation: design principles
Explains why S2 separates device constraints from energy-management objectives and leaves final safety authority with the device.