Configuration guide · Tariff & schedule

GivEnergy Battery Tariff Optimisation — Get Every Penny from Your System

Q: Why isn't my GivEnergy battery charging overnight on Octopus Go?

The most common causes: the charge window is not set correctly, the slot crosses midnight, or the CT clamp is incorrectly oriented.

Q: Can I use Octopus Intelligent with GivEnergy?

Yes, but be aware that Octopus Intelligent sends automated charge signals via API. Use one control method, not both.

Q: Does the GivEnergy battery work with Economy 7?

Yes. Economy 7 is one of the simplest and most effective tariffs for a GivEnergy battery.

A GivEnergy battery on the wrong tariff — or with a correctly configured battery but incorrectly set schedule — can waste most of its financial value. This guide covers tariff selection, charge schedule setup, Octopus integration, and the midnight rule that catches out almost every GivEnergy owner.

Book configuration review GivEnergy configuration hub

Economy 7, Octopus Go, Agile & Intelligent
The midnight crossing rule explained
Solar export tariff guidance included

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Battery not charging on your tariff?

We set up GivEnergy charge schedules correctly for your specific tariff and usage profile. If your battery isn't charging overnight or isn't saving as much as expected, a remote schedule review identifies the issue fast.

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Not affiliated with GivEnergy Ltd or any energy supplier. Independent advice.

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13 Trustpilot reviews

Trustpilot Google

I have a GivEnergy system consisting of two batteries, two inverters and a controlling EMS (Energy Management System) which has not worked since Nov 2025. After six months I discovered Solar Tech Support, reached out to them and Ron phoned me back – how often do you get that service? Could not be more helpful – worked directly with me over the phone, outside what I would call normal working hours. Lucid explanations and we were able to discuss the issues and history using camera and email history. As this was a very rare setup, Ron was able to access an EMS expert in the field to confirm the solution. One sunny day in, I am now only paying for standing charge and a few pence for spikes in grid consumption while battery catches up with house demand.

Ian · May 2026 Trustpilot

When my GivEnergy system had an issue, I was completely left without support and had honestly lost all hope. Thankfully, I searched online and found Ron, which completely turned things around. After sending him a message, he responded incredibly fast and called me to assure me that he would get the problem fixed. I really admire his dedicated, supportive nature and his determination to find a solution. With this kind of outstanding attitude and customer service, he has absolutely secured a future customer in me.

Sree · May 2026 Trustpilot

Ron want out of is way to help, nothing was to much. He was very thorough in what he did Very knowledgeable I would highly recommend Ron and his company He did a fantastic job for me. if you have any problems, he'll do his best to help you out and resolve your problem. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them

Dennis Brown · May 2026 Trustpilot

Ron took me through a diagnostic to confirm my GivEnergy Inverter had a fault. A common one as it turns out with the AC Inverter. As GivEnergy is defunct there is no immediate fix, aside from sourcing 2nd hand replacement. It may be that a fix becomes available over the summer which would make a lot of GivEnergy customers happy (Again)

Tony Deacon · May 2026 Trustpilot

Contacted Ron with a problem and he sorted it out quickly with no problems at all. Very knowledgeable on anything solar/ batteries. I would recommend him to anyone

Phill · May 2026 Trustpilot

I've spoken to Ron a couple of times with issues with my Givenergy installation. Such a friendly knowledge guy very highly recommended. Thank you very much for resolving my issues

michael fairhurst · May 2026 Trustpilot

Contacted Solar Tech Support in desperation. After explaining the issues I had with my system a diagnosis was made and a solution proposed. Fantastic service, even contacted a manufacturer to arrange replacement parts for me. Great communications, explained all they were doing and what I had to do, clearly and precisly. Followed up to confirm all was ok. Excellent service.

Mr Machin · May 2026 Trustpilot

After GivEnergy went into liquidation, just my luck, my battery started playing up (internal board crashed). Contacted my installer - not interested! Found Solar tech support on a Google search. Sooo glad I found this company! Ron is extremely helpful and has plenty of experience. He soon confirmed what the fault was, and helped me to get my system up and running again. Now moved my GivEnergy account to Solar tech support, and will definitely use again if I have more issues. Unusual to find such a helpful company in these times, no morons reading scripts, just direct contact with the engineer.

Keith Ballard · Apr 2026 Trustpilot

Contacted Solar Tech Support when trying to understand what my Givenergy inverter problem might be and what might be my options. Received good/honest advise which backed up my thoughts.

Hugh Speirs · Apr 2026 Trustpilot

Ron is a super star. Two months ago my GivEnergy battery failed a firmware upgrade leaving it a brick. My installer couldn't/wouldn't fix it. GivEnergy couldn't/wouldn't fix it. Then they went into administration and all hope was lost. A flurry of emails later and Ron had diagnosed the fault (failed USB flash drive, something I'd suspected) and talked me through resolving it. Two months of nothing resolved in about 3 hours. It's great to work with someone who pays attention to the details, knows that they're doing (not just following a script) and gets stuff sorted without a fuss or up-charging.

Christopher · Apr 2026 Trustpilot

I can add to the list of customers who had already 'given up' on GivEnergy due to their appalling customer service, and that was before they went into administration (their Trustpilot reviews don't lie!). So you can imagine my desperation when, having changed my ISP and my Inverter, predictably, proving to be the only device that didn't connect automatically to my new network, I found zero prospect of any customer support with GivEnergy having called in the administrators just five days earlier! The salvation came from Solar Tech Support. My IT advisor stumbled across their web site and some very helpful tips for beleaguered GivEnergy customers, as well as an offer to provide direct assistance. Nothing ventured, I decided to drop them an E-Mail, with very low expectations based on my experience of GivEnergy customer support. Within an hour Ron had responded with some pin point advice, and after a few exchanges of E-Mails he had nailed the problem, enabling the combined efforts of my IT advisor and solar installer to resolve it and reconnect my Inverter. Thank you Solar Tech Support, and Ron in particular, for coming to the aid of a deserted and despondent GivEnergy customer. Expert, razor sharp advice and first class customer service, even though I wasn't officially a customer.

customer · Apr 2026 Trustpilot

This company are a rare gem, I had a very unusual problem following a failed firmware upgrade on my GivEnergy kit. I then found out GivEnergy were in administration and had dismissed all their support staff! None of the usual fixes to try and restore my inverter comms would work, and I looked everywhere, forums, GivEnergy youtube support videos - even AI couldn't figure it out. My installer was talking about huge sums for system replacements, and being vague / evasive about if they'd even install replacement GivEnergy inverter. Enter Solar Tech Support, reassuring and knowledgeable from the very start, I've learnt loads about my solar system though the friendly chat while my engineer worked as he diagnosed the problem and figured out a fix procedure that I've not found anywhere else - amazing . If you need solar system repairs - especially if you like me have been left high and dry by GivEnergy, I cannot recommend this company enough. Give them a call.

Andy Thomas · Apr 2026 Trustpilot

I sent a message on their website regarding a problem I have on my Givenergy system. Although not supplied by Ronald, I thought it was worth an email. Within the hour on a Saturday, he phoned and we discussed the problem. He logged in remotely and gave excellent advice. I'm too far away for his on-site help but he did diagnose the problem and was happy also to chat through my thoughts about an upcoming solar/battery install I'm planning. Great bloke.... if only he was nearer!

Philip · Apr 2026 Trustpilot

Ian · May 2026 Trustpilot

Sree · May 2026 Trustpilot

Dennis Brown · May 2026 Trustpilot

Tony Deacon · May 2026 Trustpilot

Contacted Ron with a problem and he sorted it out quickly with no problems at all. Very knowledgeable on anything solar/ batteries. I would recommend him to anyone

Phill · May 2026 Trustpilot

I've spoken to Ron a couple of times with issues with my Givenergy installation. Such a friendly knowledge guy very highly recommended. Thank you very much for resolving my issues

michael fairhurst · May 2026 Trustpilot

Mr Machin · May 2026 Trustpilot

Keith Ballard · Apr 2026 Trustpilot

Contacted Solar Tech Support when trying to understand what my Givenergy inverter problem might be and what might be my options. Received good/honest advise which backed up my thoughts.

Hugh Speirs · Apr 2026 Trustpilot

Christopher · Apr 2026 Trustpilot

customer · Apr 2026 Trustpilot

Andy Thomas · Apr 2026 Trustpilot

Philip · Apr 2026 Trustpilot

The fundamentals

Your tariff is half the value equation

A GivEnergy battery stores energy and releases it — but what it stores, and when, determines all of its financial return. The battery gives you one unique ability: you decide when to buy electricity, not just how much. On a flat-rate tariff, that ability is worthless.

On the right tariff

✓Charge overnight at 7–15p/kWh

✓Discharge during 25–35p/kWh peak periods

✓Each full cycle saves 15–25p per kWh

✓A 9.5kWh battery can save £400–800/year

On a flat-rate tariff

·Charging and discharging at the same rate

·Round-trip efficiency losses mean you lose money

·Solar self-consumption is the only real saving

·Battery payback period doubles or triples

💡 Key principle: charge cheap, discharge expensive. The daily routine is simple: fill the battery during the cheap overnight window, use that stored energy during peak-rate morning and evening periods. Combine this with solar generation covering daytime loads and you've eliminated most of your peak-rate grid import.

Tariff guide

Which tariff type works best with GivEnergy?

Not all time-of-use tariffs work the same way. Here's how the main types interact with a GivEnergy battery.

⚡ Economy 7 / Economy 10

Fixed cheap window — 7 or 10 hours overnight at a lower rate. Simple to schedule around, highly predictable. E7 windows are typically 00:30–07:30 but vary by meter and region. Always check with your supplier.

Best for simplicity · Works well with manual GivEnergy charge schedule

🐙 Octopus Go

Fixed cheap rate (currently around 7.5p/kWh) between 00:30–05:30. Simple, predictable window ideal for GivEnergy scheduling. Just create a Timed Charge slot matching these hours in the GivEnergy app.

Best value · Most popular choice for GivEnergy battery owners

📈 Octopus Agile

Half-hourly prices that change based on grid demand. Prices can go negative during high renewable generation. Suits users who want to target the cheapest slots dynamically — often via Home Assistant or GivTCP automations.

For advanced users · Requires active schedule management or automation

🤖 Octopus Intelligent

Sends automated control signals to your GivEnergy system via API. Handles scheduling automatically. However, it overrides manual settings set in the GivEnergy app — using both simultaneously causes conflicting instructions and unpredictable behaviour.

Smart tariff lockout guide →

🕐 Variable / dynamic half-hourly

Prices vary by half-hour based on wholesale energy costs. Can offer very cheap or negative prices during high renewable generation. Requires Home Assistant or GivTCP integrations to automate optimally — manual scheduling is impractical.

Works best with automation layer

❌ Standard flat-rate tariff (avoid)

Same unit rate all day. The battery charges and discharges at the same cost. Round-trip efficiency losses (typically 85–92%) mean you pay more than you save. Only beneficial for solar self-consumption, not arbitrage.

Switch immediately if still on flat rate

Octopus integration

Octopus

Setting up GivEnergy with Octopus tariffs

Octopus Energy is the most popular tariff choice for GivEnergy battery owners. Each Octopus product integrates differently — understand which before enabling API connections.

Octopus Go setup in GivEnergy app

Confirm your cheap window

Octopus Go's standard cheap window is 00:30–05:30. Check your specific tariff agreement — some variations have different times. Your smart meter app or the Octopus app shows exact times.

Create Timed Charge slot in GivEnergy

In the GivEnergy app or portal: go to EMS settings → Timed Charge. Set Slot 1 to 00:30–05:30. Set Target SOC to 100% (or whatever level you need for the day). Save the schedule. The battery should begin charging at 00:30 on the next cycle.

Do not enable the Octopus API connection for Go

For Octopus Go, manual scheduling in GivEnergy is sufficient. The Octopus API is designed for Octopus Intelligent — enabling it on a Go tariff can cause conflicting signals. Leave the API connection disabled unless you have specifically set up Octopus Intelligent.

Verify the schedule is applying

Check the portal the morning after your first scheduled charge. The battery SOC should have risen to your target during the cheap window. If it hasn't, check the midnight rule below — this is the most common cause of first-night failures.

⚠ Octopus Intelligent: use one control system, not two

Octopus Intelligent sends automated charge and discharge signals to your GivEnergy inverter via their API. When enabled, it controls your battery directly — your manually set schedules in the GivEnergy app are overridden. If you want Octopus Intelligent to manage your battery, remove any manual schedules in GivEnergy. If you want to control it yourself, do not connect the Octopus API. Running both causes the smart tariff lockout behaviour many users complain about.

Configuration

Setting up a complete daily charge/discharge schedule

A complete schedule pairs a charge slot with a discharge slot. Many GivEnergy owners only set up the charge window, leaving the discharge to default — which means the battery may discharge at the wrong times.

Timed Charge — fill during cheap rate

EMS slot

Set to match your tariff's cheap window. Target SOC: 100% (or enough for the next day's usage). This is when the battery draws from the grid at the lowest rate.

Timed Discharge — power home during peak

EMS slot

Set to cover morning and evening peak periods. Target SOC: 4% (or your preferred reserve). The battery powers your home instead of drawing expensive peak-rate grid electricity.

Self-Consumption — default solar behaviour

Default mode

Between scheduled slots, the system operates in self-consumption mode — using solar to power the home, charging the battery from surplus, and only drawing grid when needed.

Example: Octopus Go schedule (00:30–05:30 cheap window)

Slot	Time	Target SOC
Charge Slot 1	00:30 → 05:30	100%
Discharge Slot 1	05:30 → 09:00	20%
Self-consumption	09:00 → 16:00	Solar priority
Discharge Slot 2	16:00 → 23:59	4%

Common mistake

The midnight rule — why your battery isn't charging overnight

GivEnergy charge and discharge slots cannot cross midnight. Each slot must sit entirely within a single 24-hour period. This catches out almost every new GivEnergy owner setting up their first schedule.

❌ Incorrect — slot crosses midnight

WRONG

Charge Slot 1: 23:30 → 05:30

This slot will not work — it spans midnight.

✓ Correct — split into two slots

CORRECT

Charge Slot 1: 23:30 → 23:59

Charge Slot 2: 00:00 → 05:30

Both slots apply correctly.

⚠ This applies in both the app and the portal. The midnight boundary rule is a firmware-level constraint — it applies identically whether you're using the GivEnergy mobile app or the web portal (givenergy.cloud). Some versions of the app will silently accept a crossing slot but not apply it. Others show an error. Either way, always split any slot that would cross midnight into two separate slots.

Solar owners

Export tariff — getting paid for surplus solar

If you have solar panels, a Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) tariff pays you for electricity exported to the grid. With a battery, the decision becomes more nuanced — do you store surplus for self-use or export it for payment?

Option 1 — maximise self-consumption

Store all surplus solar in the battery. Use it during peak periods instead of paying peak-rate import. Best when your export rate is lower than your peak import rate.

Option 2 — maximise export income

Export surplus solar at a high SEG rate. Use Timed Export in GivEnergy to push stored energy to the grid during high-value periods. Works best with Agile or premium fixed SEG rates.

Option 3 — hybrid (recommended)

Charge from cheap overnight rate. Use solar to cover daytime loads. Export only genuine surplus beyond battery full capacity. Best overall financial outcome for most households.

💡 SEG rate vs peak import saving. If your SEG rate is 15p/kWh and your peak import rate is 28p/kWh, storing surplus solar to displace peak import saves you 13p more per kWh than exporting. Only consider exporting stored battery energy when export rates approach or exceed your peak import rate — which occasionally happens on Octopus Agile during low-demand periods.

Troubleshooting

Problems

Battery not charging as expected — checklist

Work through these in order — they cover the causes of the vast majority of tariff-related battery charging failures.

Check the midnight rule

If your cheap window starts before midnight (e.g. 23:30), split the slot at midnight. This is the single most common cause of schedules that look correct but don't apply.

Check CT clamp direction

An inverted CT clamp makes the inverter think it's exporting when it's importing, and vice versa. The battery may believe household demand is already met and refuse to charge. See the CT clamp direction guide.

Check for API override

If your energy provider is connected via API (Octopus Intelligent, OVO Charge Anytime, etc.), their control signals override your manual schedule. Log in to the portal and check Connected Apps — if a third-party integration is active and you didn't intend it, remove it.

Check the smart meter is reporting data

Some GivEnergy smart tariff integrations rely on smart meter data to verify cheap windows. If your smart meter is not reporting correctly, the integration may not function. Contact your supplier to verify SMETS2 meter activation.

Check the charge schedule is actually saved

Occasionally the GivEnergy app shows a schedule that hasn't synced to the inverter. Log out and back into the app, reload the schedule, and confirm it's showing as active in the portal — not just in the app cache.

FAQ

GivEnergy tariff — common questions answered

Which electricity tariff is best for a GivEnergy battery?

Any tariff with a defined cheap overnight window works well. Octopus Go (fixed 7.5p/kWh overnight window) is the most popular choice. Economy 7 and Economy 10 are simple alternatives. Avoid flat-rate tariffs — the battery's round-trip efficiency loss means you lose money charging and discharging at the same rate.

Why isn't my GivEnergy battery charging overnight on Octopus Go?

Most likely the midnight rule — if your charge slot crosses midnight, it won't apply. Split it into two slots: one ending at 23:59 and one starting at 00:00. Other causes: CT clamp reversed so the inverter reads incorrect import/export values, or a third-party API (Octopus Intelligent) overriding your manual schedule.

Can I use Octopus Intelligent with GivEnergy?

Yes, but use one control system. Octopus Intelligent sends API signals directly to your inverter. If you also have manual schedules in the GivEnergy app, both systems compete — you'll get unpredictable behaviour. Either use Octopus Intelligent exclusively (remove manual schedules), or disconnect the Octopus API and manage schedules yourself.

Does the GivEnergy battery work with Economy 7?

Yes — Economy 7 is one of the most straightforward tariffs to use with GivEnergy. Set a Timed Charge slot matching your E7 hours (typically 00:30–07:30, but check with your supplier — it varies by meter). Apply the midnight rule if your window starts before midnight. Set a Timed Discharge slot for morning and evening peaks.

Independent GivEnergy support

Battery not charging on your tariff?

We set up GivEnergy charge schedules correctly for any tariff — Octopus Go, Economy 7, Agile, or anything else. If your battery isn't saving what it should, a remote review finds the problem fast and sets up the correct schedule for your usage.

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