Blog

Battery charge indicator wood model. Phone charge level. Discharged and fully charged battery. Battery charge from high to low.

<p>At Powston, we’re always tuning your system to be sharper, safer, and more profitable. If you’ve noticed your inverter lightly exporting even when it doesn’t seem “worth it”—that’s no accident. It’s a feature.</p><p>We call it creative export and curtail, and it’s part of our strategy to keep you out of trouble and in the money.</p><h3>It’s Not About Chasing 15c—It’s About Avoiding 39c</h3><p>Sometimes your system is in a delicate spot: prices aren’t high enough to justify a full export, but buying from the grid would be painful. So we gently nudge the inverter to export around 1kW. Not because we’re chasing tiny profits, but because leaning forward a little helps you avoid falling backward into expensive imports.</p><h3>Why It Matters Under Australian Standards</h3><p>Export ramp limits in Australian grid codes mean inverters can’t always respond instantly. If we wait until a price spike hits to react, your inverter may miss the moment—or worse, import during the delay. This small export buffer gives us room to react fast when prices move, without breaking compliance.</p><h3>Self-Consumption Still Comes First</h3><p>This isn’t “set and forget” export. We prioritise your household needs, then use any extra to build a protective buffer. Think of it as a smart net between self-use and full export, designed to keep your power bill from snapping in half.</p><p>&nbsp;<br>Powston’s creative export states are part of a bigger vision: using your system not just as a backup, but as a real-time energy trader that thinks ahead. And it’s working—our users are seeing serious credits without lifting a finger.</p>

Why Powston Is Gently Pushing Your Inverter—And Why That’s a Good Thing

16Kw Solar battery home storage unit in a garage

<p>If your hyrbid inverter failed after a power outage, the issue might be an outdated firmware version. Starlink's content filtering can block firmware updates by redirecting DNS traffic through Cloudflare's Family DNS, which may inadvertently prevent inverters from accessing their update servers.</p><p>To ensure your inverter receives necessary updates, disable content filtering in the Starlink app:</p><ul><li>Open the Starlink app.</li><li>Navigate to <strong>Settings &gt; Router &gt; Content Filtering.</strong></li><li>Select <strong>No Filtering.</strong></li><li>Tap <strong>Save</strong>.</li></ul><p>After updating your inverter, you can re-enable filtering or manage it directly on your devices.</p><p>For a visual guide, refer to this video: <a title="STARLINK Standard – How to Change Content Filtering Settings" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqmVru2lGwQ" data-mce-href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqmVru2lGwQ">STARLINK – How to Change Content Filtering Settings</a></p>

Starlink and Battery Failures

<p>In the dynamic landscape of energy markets, daily fluctuations can be misleading. At Powston, we focus on long-term performance, understanding that significant revenue often stems from a few pivotal days each year.</p><h3>The Nature of Energy Trading: Volatility and Concentration</h3><p>Energy markets are inherently volatile, influenced by factors like weather events, supply-demand imbalances, and geopolitical tensions. This volatility means that a substantial portion of annual revenue is generated during brief periods of extreme price movements. For instance, studies have shown that a significant percentage of annual energy trading revenue can be concentrated in just a few days .ascendanalytics.com</p><figure id="figure-oxkb0q0nh9maiv7oi8"><img id="oxkb0q0nh9maiv7oi8" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/2bU3VpekkCfJCR38pe7K5Qy1o3ZTnb5PkDGHJsvkQ4KUo43GSULFOy5h2RE0e1xr.png" alt="Most earnings occur in just a few days every year." title="Most earnings occur in just a few days every year." class="object-cover bg-gray-100 rounded-2xl md:rounded-3xl lg:rounded-4xl" style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="Powston Battery Earnings over a year" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/2bU3VpekkCfJCR38pe7K5Qy1o3ZTnb5PkDGHJsvkQ4KUo43GSULFOy5h2RE0e1xr.png" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"><figcaption class="body-normal text-gray-500 mt-2">Powston Battery Earnings over a year</figcaption></figure><h3>Powston's Adaptive Learning Approach</h3><p>Powston employs advanced AI models that continuously learn from market data, refining strategies to optimize performance. This adaptive learning ensures that the system becomes more effective over time, capitalizing on patterns and trends that emerge in the energy market.</p><h3>&nbsp;<br>The Pitfall of Daily Scrutiny</h3><p>Focusing on daily performance can be deceptive. Given the lumpy nature of energy trading revenue, day-to-day results may not reflect the system's true efficacy. It's akin to evaluating a year's weather based on a single day's temperature. A broader perspective reveals the system's strength in capturing value during critical market moments.</p><h3>&nbsp;<br>Aligning with Industry Best Practices</h3><p>Major energy players and financial institutions adopt similar long-term strategies. They understand that consistent profitability arises from a focus on overarching trends rather than daily variances. By aligning with these practices, Powston ensures that users benefit from a strategy designed for sustained success.</p><h3>Empowering User Control</h3><p>While Powston's AI-driven models are designed for optimal performance, we recognize the importance of user autonomy. If the system's decisions don't align with your expectations or specific needs, you have the authority to manually adjust settings, override default behaviors, and set personalized rules. After all, it's your battery, your investment, and your choice. </p><h3>Conclusion: Trust in the Long-Term Vision</h3><p>Powston's strength lies in its commitment to long-term performance and adaptive learning. By understanding the unique dynamics of energy markets and focusing on strategic growth, Powston offers users a reliable path to maximizing their energy trading potential.</p>

Why Powston Improves Over Time: Embracing Long-Term Energy Trading Strategies

<p><strong>...that retailers quietly pocket unless you’re with a wholesale provider like LocalVolts</strong></p><p>When you export solar energy at 0c/kWh, it might feel like you’re giving it away. But in Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM), even "free" energy is far from worthless.</p><p>Behind the scenes, your solar exports help reduce financial risk in the energy market — and that reduction carries real value. If you're with a traditional energy retailer, they quietly keep it. If you're with LocalVolts, you get it.</p><p>Let’s break that down.</p><h3>Settlement Isn’t Instant — and Interest Is Charged</h3><p>Every 5 minutes, AEMO sets a dispatch price for energy. But energy isn’t settled in real time — it can take weeks for financial settlement to occur.</p><p>To manage that delay, AEMO requires market participants (like retailers) to post financial guarantees and charges them interest on outstanding energy liabilities. The assumed value of that energy? Typically around 25c/kWh, with an annualized interest rate of 10.2%.</p><p>So yes — even if you export at 0c/kWh, the market treats your energy like it's <strong>worth 25c/kWh for interest calculations</strong>.</p><h3>Your Export Offsets Retailer Liabilities — But Who Gets the Credit?</h3><p>When you export energy, it reduces the amount of energy your retailer needs to buy on the wholesale market. That, in turn, lowers their prudential exposure and reduces the interest they owe AEMO.</p><p>This is where things get interesting.</p><p>Most traditional retailers don’t pass that value on to you. They credit you a flat feed-in rate, keep the benefit of reduced interest for themselves, and call it margin.</p><p>But <strong>LocalVolts does it differently.</strong><br>Because you’re trading directly into the market, LocalVolts treats you like a small-scale generator and <strong>passes that settlement value back to you.</strong></p><h3>It's Like Earning Interest — Just in Energy Terms</h3><p>So while you’re not literally loaning energy at 10% per annum, the effect is similar:<br>You export at no upfront price, and over time, the system returns value <strong>because your energy reduced someone else’s cost of capital.</strong></p><p>Call it settlement arbitrage. Call it wholesale fairness.</p><p>We call it what it is: <strong>yours.</strong></p><figure id="figure-klw53z5whgmaaz5qkl"><img id="klw53z5whgmaaz5qkl" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/2GRE14y2YyOhfIAyXyDJ9rE9FDDCawo51TJ2jDkzGFat77NqQSR4iYBI6E51Kyyy.png" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 rounded-2xl md:rounded-3xl lg:rounded-4xl" style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: 60% 50%;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="Sample bill showing 10.2% interest paid on exports" data-positionx="60%" data-positiony="50%" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/2GRE14y2YyOhfIAyXyDJ9rE9FDDCawo51TJ2jDkzGFat77NqQSR4iYBI6E51Kyyy.png" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: 60% 50%;"><figcaption class="body-normal text-gray-500 mt-2">Sample bill showing 10.2% interest paid on exports</figcaption></figure><h3>Why You’ve Probably Never Heard This</h3><p>Because the energy market wasn’t built for you.<br>It was built for large retailers who understood how the rules worked and profited quietly in the background. Most customers never get visibility into settlement timelines, prudential interest, or how exported energy offsets those financial positions.</p><blockquote><p>But if you're exporting and not seeing that value, it's not because it doesn't exist — it's because someone else is keeping it.</p></blockquote><h3>What You Can Do</h3><p>If you're serious about getting paid what your energy is truly worth, don't settle for a fixed feed-in tariff.</p><p>Trade through a provider like <a data-mce-href="https://localvolts.com/partners/powston-blissai/" href="https://localvolts.com/partners/powston-blissai/" data-mce-selected="inline-boundary">LocalVolts</a> that gives you direct access to real market dynamics — including the hidden interest you're already earning.</p><p>Want to read the fine print?</p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit;" data-mce-style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit;">Want to understand the AEMO settlement process yourself? </span><a data-mce-href="https://aemo.com.au/energy-systems/gas/short-term-trading-market-sttm/market-operations/settlements-and-payments/credit-support" href="https://aemo.com.au/energy-systems/gas/short-term-trading-market-sttm/market-operations/settlements-and-payments/credit-support" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit;" data-mce-style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit;">Here’s the official documentation</a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit;" data-mce-style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: inherit;">.</span></p><p><br></p>

The Hidden Interest on Your Solar Exports

<p>Welcome to the Self-Service Onboarding guide, if you get stuck or are not sure at any step, please reach out to us via the contact page.</p><h3><br>Step 1: Order your Hardware &amp; Subscription</h3><p><strong><a data-mce-href="https://powston.chargebee.com/hosted_pages/checkout?subscription_items[item_price_id][0]=Powston-iStore-Residential&amp;subscription_items[quantity][0]=1&amp;utm_source=cb-app-copy" href="https://powston.chargebee.com/hosted_pages/checkout?subscription_items[item_price_id][0]=Powston-iStore-Residential&amp;subscription_items[quantity][0]=1&amp;utm_source=cb-app-copy" data-mce-selected="inline-boundary">Click Here to Place your Order</a></strong></p><h3>Step 2: Tell us your Inverter's Serial Number</h3><p>Email a photo of your serial number, or send the Serial # to <a href="mailto:service@powston.com" data-mce-href="mailto:service@powston.com">service@powston.com</a></p><h3>Step 3: Join a Wholesale Retailer&nbsp;</h3><p>Powston isn't an energy retailer, so you will still need to retain an energy retailer. Most of our customers are registered with Local Volts as they pass through the AEMO Spot prices directly to the consumer for those in QLD, NSW, ACT, SA, TAS to be elligible.&nbsp;</p><p><strong><a data-mce-href="https://localvolts.com/register/?EntityID=21973" href="https://localvolts.com/register/?EntityID=21973">Click Here to Register with Local Volts</a></strong></p><p>If you're an existing LocalVolts Customer, using the Talk to LocalVolts Feature send a request:"I'd like to join Powston". It can take up to 2 weeks for your current energy retailer to release you, continue the below steps while you wait.</p><p>If you'd like to use another retailer, please contact us.</p><h3>Step 4: Login to Powston</h3><p>When your account is setup we will send you an email to login to Powston.&nbsp;<br>Login to Powston: app.powston.com</p><h3>Step 5: Let Powston take Control</h3><p>Double Check you are Ready:</p><p>1. Registered with LocalVolts and received the confirmation you are now on LocalVolts?<br>2. Sent Powston your Serial Number?<br>3. Confirmed you can login at app.powston.com and see your inverter?</p><p>Then its time to take the next step:</p><p>Email service@powston.com to let us know you are ready for Powston to take Control of your inverter!&nbsp;</p>

Self-Service Onboarding - iStore

<p>Welcome to the Self-Service Onboarding guide, if you get stuck or are not sure at any step, please reach out to us via the contact page.</p><h3>Step 1: Order your Hardware &amp; Subscription</h3><p><strong><a data-mce-href="https://powston.chargebee.com/hosted_pages/checkout?subscription_items[item_price_id][0]=Powston-Sonnen-AUD-Monthly&amp;subscription_items[quantity][0]=1&amp;utm_source=cb-app-copy" href="https://powston.chargebee.com/hosted_pages/checkout?subscription_items[item_price_id][0]=Powston-Sonnen-AUD-Monthly&amp;subscription_items[quantity][0]=1&amp;utm_source=cb-app-copy" target="_blank" data-mce-selected="inline-boundary">Click Here to Place your Order</a></strong></p><h3>Step 2 : Join a Wholesale Retailer&nbsp;</h3><p>Powston isn't an energy retailer, so you will still need to retain an energy retailer.&nbsp;Most of our customers are registered with Local Volts as they pass through the AEMO Spot prices directly to the consumer for those in QLD, NSW, ACT, SA, TAS to be elligible.&nbsp;</p><p><strong><a data-mce-href="https://localvolts.com/register/?EntityID=21973" href="https://localvolts.com/register/?EntityID=21973">Click Here to Register with Local Volts</a></strong></p><p>If you're an existing LocalVolts Customer, using the Talk to LocalVolts Feature send a request:"I'd like to join Powston".&nbsp;</p><h3>Step 3: Ask sonnen for your integration key</h3><p>This key allows Powston to control your inverter. You'll need to email sonnen then forward their response to <a href="mailto:service@powston.com" data-mce-href="mailto:service@powston.com">service@powston.com</a>. <br><br>To:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="mailto:service@sonnen.com.au" data-mce-href="mailto:service@sonnen.com.au">service@sonnen.com.au</a>&nbsp;<br>Subject:&nbsp; Local API Token Request<br>Body:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; I'd like to get the Local API Token so I can use Powston. My inverter serial number is XXX.</p><h3>Step 4: Login to Powston<br></h3><p>When your account is setup we will send you an email to login to Powston.&nbsp;<br>Login to Powston: app.powston.com</p><h3>Step 5: Install your Controller<br></h3><p>Once you receive your controller follow this Installation guide:</p><figure id="figure-ho9uyzin2pm8x3nlu7"><iframe id="ho9uyzin2pm8x3nlu7" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mpAJtw-OraY" class="w-full bg-gray-100 rounded-2xl md:rounded-3xl lg:rounded-4xl" style="aspect-ratio: 16/9;" allowfullscreen="" data-url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpAJtw-OraY" data-corners="default" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mpAJtw-OraY" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9;" data-dashlane-frameid="1716"></iframe></figure><h3>Step 6: Let Powston take Control</h3><p>Double Check you are Ready:</p><p>1. Registered with LocalVolts and received the confirmation you are now on LocalVolts?<br>2. Sent your Local API Token to Powston?<br>3. Installed your Controller?<br>4. Confirmed you can login at app.powston.com and see your inverter?</p><p>Then its time to take the next step:</p><p>Email service@powston.com to let us know you are ready for Powston to take Control of your inverter!</p><p><br></p><p>Step 7: Watch the Platform Overview</p><figure id="figure-hwnkjovq8mm9bcknyr"><iframe id="hwnkjovq8mm9bcknyr" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1XzB19jI4k8" class="w-full bg-gray-100 rounded-2xl md:rounded-3xl lg:rounded-4xl" style="aspect-ratio: 16/9;" allowfullscreen="" data-url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XzB19jI4k8" data-corners="default" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1XzB19jI4k8" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9;" data-dashlane-frameid="1717"></iframe></figure>

Self-Service Onboarding - sonnen

Powston

Powston is an Australian energy technology company transforming how households and businesses use and profit from renewable energy. Our AI-driven platform and plug-and-play controller connect batteries, solar, and smart devices directly to the 5-minute wholesale energy market. This lets customers cut their electricity bills, optimise consumption, and even earn revenue—without relying on traditional retailers or Virtual Power Plants.
With integrations across leading brands like Sungrow, SAJ, iStore, Powston empowers users with real-time energy monitoring, cost optimisation, and automation tools for appliances, EVs, and backup planning.
Headquartered in Brisbane, Powston is committed to building a more sustainable future by enabling everyday Australians to reduce environmental impact while achieving financial independence from power bills

Blog

Why Powston Is Gently Pushing Your Inverter—And Why That’...

Starlink and Battery Failures

Why Powston Improves Over Time: Embracing Long-Term Energ...

The Hidden Interest on Your Solar Exports

Self-Service Onboarding - iStore

Self-Service Onboarding - sonnen