For SolaX owners · Beta
ShiftCharge for SolaX batteries on Octopus Agile
Tariff-aware battery scheduling for SolaX hybrid inverters on Octopus Agile, Cosy and Go. Connect a free SolaX developer key and the daily plan runs itself.
Start 30 days free30 days free during the beta, then £4.99 a month or £49 a year if you choose to subscribe.
No payment is taken automatically when your free time ends. Battery automation stops unless you subscribe. Paid plans renew until cancelled; cancel any time. Your first payment is covered by our 30-day money-back guarantee.
ShiftCharge connects to your SolaX hybrid inverter through the official SolaX Cloud developer API and plans your battery around tomorrow’s Octopus Agile prices, your solar forecast, and the way your household actually uses energy.
SolaX support is in open beta. You create a free app on the SolaX Developer Portal, paste its Client ID and Secret into ShiftCharge, point it at your tariff, and the plan runs on your inverter each day.
How ShiftCharge talks to SolaX
SolaX inverters can be told what to do through the SolaX Cloud: charge from the grid up to a level, discharge to the grid down to a level, or go back to their normal self-use mode. ShiftCharge sends the right instruction as each part of your plan starts, and checks that the inverter has accepted it.
Between those moments the inverter runs on its own self-use mode with your minimum battery level, so if your internet drops it simply carries on looking after the house.
Hold battery on SolaX
When charging is cheap now but the evening will be expensive, the best move is often to keep what is in the battery rather than use it. On SolaX, ShiftCharge holds the battery by raising the self-use cut-off to its current level: the grid covers the house, and spare solar still tops the battery up.
What you need
A SolaX hybrid inverter with a battery, such as the X1-Hybrid G4, X3-Hybrid G4 or X3-Ultra, connected to SolaX Cloud.
A free app on the SolaX Developer Portal (developer.solaxcloud.com). Sign in with your SolaX Cloud login, create an app and copy its Client ID and Client Secret.
A UK smart-meter time-of-use tariff (Octopus Agile, Cosy, Go, or compatible).
What "beta" means here
The integration is wired end to end: live readings, history, charge, discharge and hold. It is built on SolaX’s own API documentation and the approach Predbat, the established open-source scheduler, uses with SolaX.
Beta means we are still confirming a few behaviours across more real homes, such as which firmware accepts every instruction. If something looks wrong, pause automation from the app and tell us.
Common questions
- Which SolaX inverters work?
- SolaX hybrid inverters with a battery that report to SolaX Cloud, such as the X1-Hybrid G4, X3-Hybrid G4 and X3-Ultra. Solar-only SolaX inverters have no battery to schedule. The A1-Hybrid G2 uses a different control method and is not supported yet.
- Why does it need a developer key rather than my SolaX login?
- SolaX only lets other services control an inverter through its developer API. The key is free, it only takes a few minutes to create, and you can delete it on the SolaX Developer Portal at any time to cut ShiftCharge off.
- Will it conflict with the SolaX app?
- The SolaX app keeps working for monitoring. If you change the work mode by hand while part of the plan is running, ShiftCharge puts its plan back within about 15 minutes. Pause automation in ShiftCharge first if you want to take over.
- Can I use it alongside Predbat?
- Not on the same inverter. Both would send the inverter instructions and undo each other. Pick one; if you switch to ShiftCharge, turn off Predbat’s SolaX control first, and give ShiftCharge its own developer app.
Want this running in your home?
ShiftCharge works with SolaX today. Connect your battery, point it at your tariff, and let the daily plan do the work. 30 days free during the beta, no card needed.
Start 30 days free