Included items: what the strategy measures and controls
Tell the strategy which meters measure the grid connection and which devices it may control.
→ Overview
The Included items tab decides what a strategy works with. A device that is not on this tab is ignored by the strategy: it is neither measured nor controlled.
- Measurement devices and strategies are the meters at the point the strategy keeps within its limits, normally the grid meter at the main connection.
- Regulated devices and strategies are the devices the strategy controls: batteries, hybrid and PV inverters, EV chargers and heat pumps.
The tab looks the same for an Energy manager and for an ON/OFF strategy. You set the same items in steps 2 and 3 of the add-strategy wizard.
1 Assign the devices
Save stores the two columns exactly as they are on the page and replaces all previous items of the strategy. The strategy restarts, so regulation is interrupted for a moment. A device you removed by mistake is no longer controlled, and a removed grid meter changes what the strategy measures. Check both columns before you click Save. The change is recorded in the Audit log.
2 Columns and buttons
| Element | What it does |
|---|---|
| Devices and strategies | Every device and every strategy on the controller, with an icon for the device category. Dragging an item out of this list copies it; the item stays here, so the same device can be used in several columns or strategies. |
| Measurement devices and strategies | The meters (or other strategies) whose values make up the strategy's grid point. Power and current of all items are added up per phase; voltages are averaged. |
| Regulated devices and strategies | The devices (or other strategies) the strategy controls. |
| To remove supply or node items drag them outside frame | Hint: drag an item from the measurement column ("supply") or the regulated column ("node") outside the frame to remove it. |
| Save | Saves both columns and restarts the strategy. |
A device configured as read-only can be a measurement item but not a regulated item. The Configurator shows "Read-only device can not be regulated." if you drop one into the regulated column.
3 Measurement items
- Add the meter (or meters) that measure the whole grid connection. If the site has several supply points, for example two main meters, add all of them; they are added up into one grid point.
- Do not add a sub-meter whose power is already counted by the grid meter. It would be counted twice.
- If the measurement column is empty, the strategy uses the regulated devices as its measurement. That only makes sense if those devices themselves are the whole grid connection, for example a hybrid inverter with its own grid meter.
If a measurement device stops communicating, the Energy manager no longer knows the grid power. It switches to Fallback to safe values: batteries stop, PV and EV chargers are limited to their Fallback power and heat pumps go to the Fallback setpoint (all set on the Details tab), until the meter is back. A device listed in a Grid connection fallback mode is handled by that mode instead. See Strategy details: grid, EVSE, PV and HVAC and Voltage regulation and grid connection fallback.
4 Regulated items
The Energy manager controls a regulated device only while the device:
- is online (communicates with the controller);
- has its control type set to Auto (see Control type and manual setpoints);
- is not in error, if Exclude devices in error from regulation is on (Details tab).
A device that does not meet these conditions stays on the tab but is skipped until it does.
To test a device by hand, set its control type to Manual on the device page. The strategy then leaves it alone. Set it back to Auto when you are done; the Health check reports devices that are not in Auto.
5 Strategies as items
A strategy can be added to another strategy, either as a measurement item or as a regulated item. This is used on larger sites, for example a separate Energy manager per building below one main Energy manager. A strategy cannot be added to itself.
Avoid adding the same device as a regulated item to two strategies. If it happens, the strategy with the higher priority controls the device.
6 Checklist
- Every meter at the grid connection is in Measurement devices and strategies, and no sub-meter that the grid meter already counts.
- Every device to be controlled is in Regulated devices and strategies.
- Each device is regulated by one strategy only.
- The regulated devices are online and set to Auto.
- Save was clicked, and Last measurements shows plausible grid values (import positive, export negative).