Choose the battery strategy that matches your home.
Battery protection during daytime Octopus EV charging is applied across all modes where the connected Solis or LuxPowerTek inverter supports it. The smart control you choose mainly sets how 1app should run the battery for the rest of the day: cover the home first, balance value automatically, or follow a simple cheap-window charging target.
Controlled rollout
The mode choice matters, but it sits underneath the flagship fix.
1app's first job is still protecting the battery during daytime Octopus EV sessions where supported. These smart controls explain what the system should optimise outside that conflict window, once the battery is no longer quietly paying for the car.
Start with the operating goal
The right choice depends on whether the home cares most about self-use, adaptive Autopilot optimisation, or simple time-based charging.
Mixed homes usually want Autopilot
Homes with EV charging, solar, battery, and heating demand often do best with one adaptive Autopilot mode rather than extra value-style choices.
Time-based control is the direct alternative
Time-based Control is there for homes that want straightforward cheap-window charging to a chosen battery level without adaptive export decisions.
All modes
One hub for every smart control.
These pages explain what each mode is trying to optimise, who it suits, and when to stay in one adaptive Autopilot mode instead of switching to a simpler time-based strategy.
Autopilot
The best starting mode for most homes. Autopilot balances when to charge, hold, or export by weighing tariff value, later home coverage, forecast solar, and your protected minimum battery SoC so profitable export should not create later high-rate import.
Best fit
Best for mixed-device homes where EV charging, battery use, solar output, and heating demand all change across the day.
Home First
A simpler home-first mode. It prioritises running the home from your own solar and battery first, minimises grid dependence, and avoids optimiser-led battery export.
Best fit
Best for battery homes that care more about using their own stored energy well than about squeezing every export or arbitrage opportunity from the tariff.
Time-based Control
A simple target-based mode. Time-based Control charges the battery during your cheaper tariff periods until it reaches the level you choose, without optimiser-led export.
Best fit
Best for homes that want simple cheap-window charging to a chosen battery level without Autopilot managing export decisions.
How to choose
Four quick questions to narrow the choice.
Do you want the safest default first?
Start with Autopilot if you want one smart mode that adapts without daily tweaking or extra setup choices.
Is the battery mainly for the home?
Choose Home First when home coverage and lower grid dependence matter more than export upside.
Do you want a mode that responds to changing value?
Stay in Autopilot when you want the system to adapt automatically as tariff structure, solar, and home demand change while still protecting against later higher-rate import.
Do you need fixed behaviour instead?
Choose Time-based Control if you want the battery to charge during your cheaper tariff periods up to a level you choose.
Blog guide
Which smart control mode should you use?
Read the comparison guide if you want the clearest explanation of when each mode tends to win and where it can go wrong.
Read the comparisonProduct context
See where smart controls sit in the wider platform.
The mode pages explain battery strategy. The product page shows how those strategies sit alongside the flagship daytime drain fix, reporting, and whole-home visibility.
Open product pagePriority access
Tell us your setup and the operating goal you care about.
We can review whether the current rollout supports your hardware safely and which smart control mode is most likely to fit the home.
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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