Home battery and dynamic energy contract: how smart charging works
Last updated: 30 September 2026 · By Team Multi-Solar, home batteries since 2022, Rotterdam
With a home battery and a dynamic energy contract, you store electricity during the cheap hours and use it yourself during the expensive hours. With a dynamic contract, you pay the market price per hour or per quarter of an hour, and it varies considerably over the day. This only works if the battery follows those prices itself, via the manufacturer's app or an energy management system. Below you can read how it works, how to calculate what it yields, which batteries do it automatically and how to set it up.
What is a dynamic energy contract?
With a dynamic contract, your electricity rates are directly linked to the prices on the wholesale market for the next day, the day-ahead market. The Dutch regulator ACM describes it like this: the price of electricity can vary from hour to hour, and you see a day in advance in your supplier's app or on its website what you will pay tomorrow. Since 1 October 2025, the exchange has been working with quarter-hour prices; whether your supplier charges per hour or per quarter of an hour is stated in your contract.
| Fixed contract | Variable contract | Dynamic contract | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rate | Fixed for the term | Changes a few times a year | Varies per hour or quarter of an hour |
| When known | When signing up | When announced by the supplier | A day in advance |
| What a battery can do with it | Only shift your own solar power | Only shift your own solar power | Also charge during cheap hours and supply power during expensive hours |
The ACM points out that with a dynamic contract you bear the risk of higher prices yourself, for example in winter. It mainly suits households that can control their consumption. That is exactly what a battery does for you.
How does a home battery earn from price differences?
Charging when electricity is cheap
The price is often low when there is a lot of wind or solar power on the grid: at night when the wind is strong, and on sunny afternoons. The battery then charges from the grid, or from your own panels if they are generating more than you use at that moment.
Supplying power during the evening peak
Between the end of the afternoon and late evening, people cook, the lights go on and cars charge. The price is then usually at its highest. The battery supplies your own home during those hours, so you buy less expensive electricity.
What a negative price really means
On some sunny days, the wholesale price is below zero. That sounds like being paid, but energy tax, VAT and your supplier's purchase fee are added to your bill. You then pay very little, but are rarely actually paid to charge. Look at the price including tax in your supplier's app; a good battery app controls on that basis too.
A day without amounts looks like this: charging at night and around midday, supplying power during the morning and evening peaks, and waiting the rest of the day until the price difference is large enough.
What does it yield? Here is how to calculate it
We do not give amounts or payback periods, because prices vary by day, contract and season. You can, however, fill in the calculation method yourself.
- Price difference per kWh: the price during an expensive hour minus the price during a cheap hour, both including tax as shown by your supplier.
- Usable capacity: not the whole battery is usable. According to the brochure, the Venus E 4.0, for example, uses 88 percent of its cells.
- Efficiency: electricity is lost during charging and discharging. Marstek states an efficiency of more than 90 percent for the Venus E; so calculate with about 90 percent of what you charge.
- Number of times per year: how often the price difference is large enough to fill and empty the battery.
- Deduct fixed costs: a dynamic contract has its own fixed costs and its own purchase fee. Compare these with your current contract.
The sum: price difference × usable kWh × efficiency × number of times per year, minus the difference in fixed costs. The outcome depends mainly on your evening consumption, on whether you have solar panels, and on the power of the battery. Which capacity suits your consumption is explained in how many kWh of home battery you need.
Which home batteries do this automatically?
| Battery | Smart charging in the app | Power via wall socket | Power on dedicated circuit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marstek Venus E 3.0 | AI mode on dynamic tariff, or time schedules | 800 W | 2,500 W |
| Marstek Venus E 4.0 | AI optimisation based on weather forecast and prices, VPP-ready; Frank Energie mentioned as integration | 800 W | 3,000 W |
| Marstek Venus A and Venus D | Charging on dynamic tariff or time schedules | 800 W | 1,200 W (A), 2,200 W (D) |
| Zendure SolarFlow 2400 AC+ | Charging on dynamic tariff, time schedules | 800 W | charges at 2,400 W |
| Anker SOLIX Solarbank Max AC | Anker Intelligence charges at low rates; works with Tibber, EnergyZero and Frank Energie | 800 W | 3,500 W |
| Marstek Venus X (fixed) | Charging on dynamic tariffs | n/a | 6 kW, installation via a quote |
The supplier names are listed here because the manufacturer mentions them, not as a recommendation. All plug-in home batteries can be found under the plug & play home batteries, Anker under Anker SOLIX.
How do you set it up?
- Connect the meter. Without measurement, the battery does not know what your home is using. How to connect the P1 meter or CT clamp is explained in P1 meter or CT clamp.
- Make sure your dynamic contract is active. According to the manual, Marstek's AI mode only works with a dynamic contract.
- Choose the mode in the app. With Marstek, you choose "AI optimisation", supplier "Nord Pool" and region "Netherlands". With other brands it is called smart charging, dynamic tariff or time schedule.
- Set the power. Via the wall socket, leave the discharge power at a maximum of 800 W, unless a certified electrician has installed a dedicated circuit.
- Keep an eye on it during the first week. The app shows per hour when the battery charges and supplies power. If the pattern does not match the prices, check the mode and the meter.
What should you look out for?
Power. Via the wall socket, a plug-in home battery charges and supplies power at 800 W. That is fine for the base load, but the battery then fills and empties slowly, and you can make less use of cheap hours. On a dedicated circuit, this goes three to four times faster; you have that installed via a quote. Why the limit is 800 W and why you must register the battery with your grid operator is explained in the 800 W rule.
Losses during charging and discharging. Of every kWh you charge, you get about 90 percent back. A small price difference therefore yields nothing; good apps only charge when the difference is large enough.
Solar panels. If you have panels, on sunny days the battery is already full of your own electricity during the day. There is then little room for cheap grid electricity. A larger battery or an expansion module gives more leeway.
End of net metering and feed-in costs. From 1 January 2027, the Dutch net-metering scheme (salderingsregeling) ends. Using your own solar power yourself then becomes more important, and a battery helps with that. Read what changes in Dutch net-metering scheme ends in 2027.
Cycles. Every time the battery goes from full to empty counts as one charge cycle. LiFePO4 batteries are built for this: the Venus E 3.0 is rated for more than 6,000 cycles, the Venus E 4.0 for more than 10,000.
What are the imbalance market and a VPP?
A virtual power plant (VPP) bundles many home batteries, so that together they can help keep the grid in balance. The grid operator pays for that flexibility on the imbalance market, and part of it can reach you via your supplier. According to Marstek, the Venus E 4.0 and the Venus Max are ready for VPP participation. Whether and how you take part depends on your supplier. We make no statement about returns.
Frequently asked questions
Is a home battery with a dynamic contract profitable?
That depends on the price difference between cheap and expensive hours, your evening consumption and the power of your battery. You can fill it in yourself with the calculation method above. The larger the differences and the more you use in the evening, the more favourable.
Can a home battery charge at negative electricity prices?
Yes, if the app follows the price pattern. Note, though: energy tax, VAT and the purchase fee are added to your bill, so you usually still pay something, just very little.
How do I set up my home battery for dynamic tariffs?
First connect the meter, then choose the mode for dynamic charging in the app. With Marstek, that is AI optimisation with Nord Pool and region Netherlands. In the first week, check whether charging and supplying power move in line with the prices.
Does a home battery also work with a fixed contract?
Yes, but then it only shifts your own solar power from the afternoon to the evening. Charging during cheap hours yields nothing with a fixed rate, because every hour costs the same.
How much do you lose during charging and discharging?
Marstek states an efficiency of more than 90 percent. So calculate with about a tenth lost each time the battery goes from full to empty.
Ready to get started? See the plug & play home batteries that you connect yourself, or look at the fixed home batteries and request a quote for a dedicated circuit or fixed system. The full range is under home batteries; torn between plug-in and fixed? Then read plug-in or fixed.
Sources
- ACM, "ACM en Energie-Nederland maken afspraken over energiecontracten met dynamische prijzen" (ACM and Energie-Nederland make agreements on energy contracts with dynamic prices) (15 December 2021) and ACM ConsuWijzer, "Energiecontracten" (energy contracts) (consulted 30 September 2026)
- EPEX SPOT, transition to quarter-hour prices on the day-ahead market as of 1 October 2025 (via Emerce, 24 October 2025)
- Rijksoverheid (Dutch government), "Salderingsregeling stopt in 2027" (net-metering scheme ends in 2027) (consulted 30 September 2026)
- Marstek Netherlands, "Installatiehandleiding Marstek P1-meter, thuisbatterij & app" (installation manual for the Marstek P1 meter, home battery & app) (June 2026) and Venus E 4.0 brochure
- Product data Marstek, Zendure and Anker: manufacturer documentation and product pages on multi-solar.nl (30 September 2026)