Autopilot
The best starting mode for most homes. Autopilot charges when power is cheap, keeps battery back for the home, and can export spare battery power when prices are high.
Controlled rollout
This page explains the mode logic, not just the label.
All of these modes sit inside the same wider platform: daytime EV-battery protection where supported, whole-home reporting, and vendor-safe controls. The difference here is what the battery is trying to optimise once those guardrails are in place.
Battery protection still sits above the mode
If your setup qualifies for the flagship daytime drain fix, that protection remains the first job regardless of the mode selected underneath it.
Mode choice changes the operating priority
The question is not whether the battery can charge or export. The question is what outcome should win when value, reserve, and home demand are competing.
Availability still depends on your stack
Real rollout still depends on inverter control support, telemetry quality, tariff setup, and whether current onboarding safely supports your hardware mix.
Best fit
Best for mixed-device homes where EV charging, battery use, solar output, and heating demand all change across the day.
Primary goal
Use cheap power, protect later home use, and export only when it makes sense for the whole home.
Decision check
Do you want one automatic mode instead of setting fixed battery rules yourself?
When this mode wins
- Homes on Agile, Flux, or other dynamic tariffs where the right answer changes through the day.
- Users who want one smart mode instead of juggling separate reserve-first and profit-first options.
- Mixed EV + battery + solar homes where battery timing must stay compatible with the rest of the property.
When another mode is better
- You want the battery to serve the home only, with no automatic battery export.
- You want charging to follow only your cheap tariff window and chosen battery target.
- You do not want the battery making automatic charge, hold, or export decisions.
What it does in practice
- 1
Checks your tariff, expected solar, and later home demand before charging or exporting.
- 2
Exports only when enough battery should still remain for the home before the next cheap charging period.
- 3
Chooses charge, hold, or export based on what is likely to reduce expensive grid use.
- 4
Keeps the setup simple by using one smart mode instead of several separate rules.
Guardrails and stop conditions
- Battery protection and bill checks can stop an export even when the price looks attractive.
- If the latest device readings are unclear, Smart Control may hold the battery instead of changing mode.
- Device limits still apply; unsupported hardware will not be forced to act.
Compare with other smart controls
Most homes should choose the operating goal first, then choose the mode. These related pages make the tradeoffs explicit.
Home First
A simpler home-first mode. It runs the home from your own solar and battery first and avoids automatic battery export.
Time-based Control
A simple schedule-based mode. Time-based Control charges the battery during your cheaper tariff periods until it reaches the battery target you set.
Use cases that usually point toward this mode
These whole-home problems are often where this control strategy becomes the practical answer.
Smart tariff EV charging without home energy conflicts
When EV charging is cheap, it can still be operationally expensive if it competes with battery reserve, heating demand or export value elsewhere in the property.
Solar, battery and EV charging in one app
This is one of the strongest SaaS acquisition pages because the value proposition is simple: stop managing three overlapping energy systems in three different tools.
Whole-home conflict detection for modern energy homes
The more flexible devices a home has, the more valuable it becomes to detect conflicts between them before they show up as cost, lost solar or poor comfort.
Integrations commonly paired with this mode
These integration pages explain the device context where this smart control style usually shows up.
Octopus Energy
Connect Octopus tariffs to turn device readings into cost-aware actions, daily savings reporting and smarter battery decisions.
myenergi Zappi
Connect your myenergi Zappi charger to see EV charging in context with solar, battery and tariff data instead of guessing whether the car is stealing the cheap window.
Solis
Connect supported Solis hybrid inverter homes to 1app.energy so live solar, battery, grid, home demand, reports and tariff-aware battery behaviour can sit in one place once connected.
Related reading
Use the overview hub for the big picture, or jump into the comparison blog for a quicker narrative walkthrough.
Smart Controls overview
See the full smart-control model together and use the overview hub to narrow the choice before you commit to one strategy.
Which smart control mode should you use?
Read the comparison blog for a quicker narrative walkthrough of where each mode tends to fit and where it can disappoint.
Product context
The smart control is not the whole product.
These modes decide how the battery should behave. The wider platform still includes the daytime EV-battery fix, whole-home visibility, tariff context, and vendor-safe control paths across the rest of the home.
See the wider productPriority access
Tell us if your home is a fit for Autopilot.
If your setup mixes EV charging, battery storage, solar and smart tariffs, we can review whether your Solis inverter setup supports Autopilot safely.
Start with the signup check.
If your inverter is supported, you can create an account straight away. If it is not listed, the same flow sends you to the compatibility list.
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