April 29, 2025
Smart energy control starts with data, but ends with insight
Published by
Teun van Sinten
Covolt Netherlands
At Covolt, we manage renewable energy systems:
solar panels, batteries, and charging stations. Our goal is to maximize energy efficiency. We do this using smart algorithms that run in the cloud and communicate with local Electric Control Units (ECUs). These ECUs operate on-site at the installation. We record all these decisions and calculations: we log exactly which command was sent and when, while at the same time the ECUs collect measurement data from the system. This includes current generation, consumption, grid feed-in, and battery status. We send this data back to our servers for analysis. This happens at a high resolution: every 10 seconds, we send and receive new data from what is now more than 650 installations.
That produces a huge amount of data. But data alone is not enough. To get real value out of it, we at Covolt have developed automated reporting pipelines. These systems process the raw data into clear reports, which we use to show what our smart steering has actually delivered.
Reports by product type
Our reporting pipelines aggregate the raw log data into quarter-hourly and daily data, which are then used to generate our reports. We generate reports by product of our services.
Curtailment
During curtailment, we temporarily shut down PV systems when electricity prices are unfavorable—for example, when prices are negative—in order to avoid feed-in costs. In our reports, we show how many kWh were generated by the solar system and what the estimated revenue was based on the applicable Day-Ahead prices.
In addition, we calculate the added value of our management approach: what financial savings were achieved by shutting down the installation during these unfavorable times? Since we cannot measure actual generation during curtailment—after all, the installation is shut down—we estimate the lost production.
To do this, we use KNMI solar radiation data collected from weather stations throughout the Netherlands. Based on the location and capacity of the installation, we calculate a realistic estimate of how much electricity would otherwise have been generated. For financial settlement, we use the applicable imbalance prices at the times of curtailment.
Battery control
At Covolt, we manage batteries based on price incentives in the imbalance market. This means we automatically charge batteries when imbalance prices are low and discharge them when prices are high, with the goal of achieving the highest possible financial return.
In our reports, we show per day how much energy was charged and discharged, and at what imbalance prices this occurred. This gives customers insight into the added value of our steering and the volume of battery activity.
Measurement data related to battery activity is taken directly from the battery. This can sometimes differ from the official data from the meter or billing, for example due to internal losses of the battery (such as for temperature control) or because other devices are active on the same connection.
Expand further
Our goal is to offer reports for every part of our service. Therefore, we are currently expanding our reporting capabilities to two new products of our services:
CPO (Charge Point Operator): For customers with charging stations, we develop reports that provide insight into charging volumes. We also chart the number of HBEs (Renewable Fuel Units) generated. An HBE represents a financial value and is awarded for sustainably charged electricity, for example directly from PV production.
Nomination: In our nomination product, we bid energy into the market on a daily basis, based on forecasts of supply and feed-in per connection. The reports we develop for this show not only what bids we made, but also how accurate they were in the end in relation to actual energy flows.
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