What is GbbOptimizer#

GbbOptimizer (formerly GbbVictronWeb) is a program that optimizes energy use in a home photovoltaic installation with an energy storage system (battery). It analyzes PV production forecasts, energy consumption profiles, and purchase and sale prices to automatically control the inverter — deciding when to charge the battery, when to discharge it, and when to buy or sell energy from/to the grid.

How it works#

The program runs in the cloud and communicates with the inverter over the internet. It performs calculations every hour and sends commands to the inverter.

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┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                       GbbOptimizer (cloud)                      │
│                                                                 │
│  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────────────┐   │
│  │ PV Forecast  │  │  Consumption │  │  Purchase and sale   │   │
│  │ (Solcast,    │  │  profile     │  │  prices              │   │
│  │ forecast.    │  │  (home)      │  │  (tariffs, exchange) │   │
│  │  solar)      │  │              │  │                      │   │
│  └──────┬───────┘  └──────┬───────┘  └──────────┬───────────┘   │
│         │                 │                     │               │
│         └─────────────────┼─────────────────────┘               │
│                           │                                     │
│                    ┌──────▼───────┐                             │
│                    │  Optimizer   │                             │
│                    │  (Battery    │                             │
│                    │   Forecast)  │                             │
│                    └──────┬───────┘                             │
│                           │                                     │
│              Charge / discharge schedule                        │
│              + inverter operating mode                          │
└───────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────┘
                            │
                    ┌───────▼────────┐
                    │   Connection   │
                    │  (VRM, MQTT,   │
                    │  Solarman,     │
                    │  GbbConnect2)  │
                    └───────┬────────┘
                            │
                    ┌───────▼────────┐
                    │    Hybrid      │
                    │   inverter     │
                    │  + battery     │
                    └────────────────┘

Each installation has a unique PlantId and PlantToken, which are used to identify and authorize communication.

Four operating modes#

The optimizer switches the inverter between four modes depending on the current price situation and battery state:

Mode	Description
Normal	Standard inverter operation — battery charges from PV, home powered from PV and battery. PV surpluses can be exported to the grid
Charge	Charging the battery from the grid. Used when the purchase price is low (e.g. night tariff, negative exchange prices)
Discharge	Forced battery discharge to the grid. Used when the sale price is high and it is profitable to sell energy
DisableCharge	Block charging from PV. Used to leave room in the battery for later cheap grid charging

Configuration details for charging can be found in the Charging module, and for discharging in the Discharge module.

Price-based optimizer#

By default, the “Price-based optimizer” is selected. It analyzes purchase and sale prices for the coming hours and plans:

When to charge — looks for hours with the lowest purchase price
When to discharge — looks for hours with the highest sale price
How much to charge — takes into account the PV forecast (to avoid grid-charging what PV will produce anyway) and the battery’s MaxSOC
How much to discharge — takes into account the home consumption forecast and the battery’s MinSOC

The entire plan is visualized in the Battery Forecast module.

Key parameters#

SOC — current battery charge level
MinSOC — minimum battery level (protection)
MaxSOC — maximum charge level (recommended 90%)
GridSetpoint — target grid exchange power
RTE — round-trip efficiency of the charge/discharge cycle
Correction Factor — coefficient correcting the PV forecast (auto-calibrates over ~one week)

Supported inverters#

GbbOptimizer supports the following hybrid inverters:

Inverter	Connection methods
Victron	VRM Portal (native), Home Assistant
Deye	DeyeCloud, Solarman, Home Assistant, GbbConnect2, DongleDirect
GoodWe	Solarman, Home Assistant, GbbConnect2
Afore	Solarman, GbbConnect2
Hinen	Solarman, GbbConnect2
SofarSolar	DongleDirect, GbbConnect2

Victron is the longest-supported inverter with the most complete integration. Other inverters have full support for charge/discharge modes, but some advanced options may differ.

Configuration details for individual inverters can be found in the Installation section.

What’s next?#

Quick start — step by step how to set up the system
Best practices — tips from experienced users
Prices — configuring purchase and sale prices
Battery Forecast — the central optimizer module