Key Concepts
These are the core terms used throughout the Voltimax platform. Reading this page first will make everything else easier to follow.
Gateway
A gateway is a small piece of software that runs on-site - on a dedicated computer at your facility. It continuously reads data from your equipment and sends it to the cloud. It also receives instructions from the platform and carries them out locally.
You normally do not interact with the gateway directly. Once installed and configured, it runs in the background automatically. You can see its status in the platform - whether it is online and when it last communicated.
Asset
An asset is a piece of equipment connected to the platform - a battery, solar installation, grid connection, inverter, charger, or meter. Each asset sends readings to the platform and, where supported, can receive commands.
Assets are always associated with a site and managed by a gateway.
Metric
A metric is a measurement collected from an asset - for example, the battery's current charge level, the solar output in kilowatts, or the grid import in the last hour. Metrics are recorded over time so you can view trends, compare periods, and detect anomalies.
Energy Management Strategy
The platform can control how assets behave automatically using strategies. A strategy defines a goal - such as keeping the battery charged during cheap-rate hours, or keeping grid import as close to zero as possible - and the system adjusts equipment continuously to meet it.
Strategies run on the gateway itself, so they continue working even if the internet connection is temporarily interrupted.
Electricity Pricing
Some strategies use electricity prices to decide when to charge or discharge. The platform can fetch day-ahead market prices for your region and use them to schedule charging when electricity is cheapest and discharging when it is most expensive.
Pricing data is updated daily and covers hourly rates for the following day.
Solar Forecasting
For sites with solar panels, the platform can use solar production forecasts to anticipate how much energy will be generated. This helps strategies plan ahead - for example, avoiding charging the battery when a large solar surplus is expected later in the day.
Access & Users
Access to the platform is controlled by user accounts with defined roles. Roles determine what a user can see and do - for example, some users can only view data while others can also change settings or issue commands.
User management is covered in Users & Access (coming soon).