My solar inverter is not supported. Can I still use the PANTABOX energy manager?

Yes!

For simple surplus charging, only one piece of information is required: the house consumption or the current flow at the grid transfer point. If the inverter or the meter installed with it is not compatible, a “root meter” can be installed, which measures the sum of all currents from and to the house connection. This means that a zero feed-in can generally be achieved. All you need is a smart meter that is compatible with the PANTABOX energy manager; we recommend the Shelly 3EM.

⚠️ If you have a home storage system, there is a restriction with this variant: In this case, the PANTABOX Energy Manager can only record the total currents from this metering point and cannot take into account any data from any installed home storage system. Due to the control mechanisms of the hybrid inverter*, it can happen that an active charging process is fed from the home storage system, which is usually undesirable. For more information, see the question “How does the PANTABOX Energy Manager take my home storage system into account?”.

*(after all, a hybrid inverter is also a small energy management system that attempts to harmonize PV production, home consumption and battery storage)

To clarify:

• Compatibility with a hybrid inverter allows the PANTABOX Energy Manager to 
• production data
• Consumption data (via the meter connected to the hybrid inverter)
• record electricity flows and the status of the home storage system (via the storage system connected to the hybrid inverter).

This is the only way to achieve comprehensive energy control and take the home storage system into account.

We therefore generally recommend using our solution with a compatible hybrid inverter, as most PV systems already have smart meters and home storage systems installed. These can be used directly via the respective interfaces of the PANTABOX energy manager - which saves a lot of money and effort.