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Configuration guide · Tariff & schedule

GivEnergy Battery Tariff Optimisation — Get Every Penny from Your System

A GivEnergy battery on the wrong tariff — or with a correctly configured battery but incorrectly set schedule — can waste most of its financial value. This guide covers tariff selection, charge schedule setup, Octopus integration, and the midnight rule that catches out almost every GivEnergy owner.
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  • Octopus Go, Flux, Agile, Cosy and Economy 7, rates as of October 2026
  • The midnight crossing rule explained
  • Solar export tariff guidance included
Battery not charging on your tariff?

We set up GivEnergy charge schedules correctly for your specific tariff and usage profile. If your battery isn't charging overnight or isn't saving as much as expected, a remote schedule review identifies the issue fast.

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Not affiliated with GivEnergy Ltd or any energy supplier. Independent advice.

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We decided to treat ourselves to an upgrade to our existing solar system, and after a little searching, it became evident that Ron and his team provide the service and support we required. Decommissioning and recommissioning our new SunSynk inverter and a wall-mounted Fogstar battery (which is of substantial size and weight compared to the original) was completed swiftly and competently. The installation was perfectly executed, and all upgraded paperwork for the increased battery export capacity was handled by Ron. I have no hesitation in recommending this team of support technicians to you.

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Written by · Independent Solar Engineer Last updated

The fundamentals

Your tariff is half the value equation

A GivEnergy battery stores energy and releases it — but what it stores, and when, determines all of its financial return. The battery gives you one unique ability: you decide when to buy electricity, not just how much. On a flat-rate tariff, that ability is worthless.

On the right tariff

✓Charge in a cheap window at about 8–17p/kWh
✓Use it instead of buying at about 26–45p/kWh
✓Each kWh moved saves roughly 15–30p, after losses
✓A 9.5kWh battery can save £400–800/year

On a flat-rate tariff

·Charging and discharging at the same rate
·Round-trip efficiency losses mean you lose money
·Solar self-consumption is the only real saving
·Battery payback period doubles or triples

Key principle: charge cheap, discharge expensive. The daily routine is simple: fill the battery during the cheap overnight window, use that stored energy during peak-rate morning and evening periods. Combine this with solar generation covering daytime loads and you've eliminated most of your peak-rate grid import.

Tariff guide

Which tariff type works best with GivEnergy?

Not all time-of-use tariffs work the same way. Here's how the main types interact with a GivEnergy battery. Rates are Octopus Energy's published figures as of October 2026. They vary by region and change, so check your own before you switch.

Economy 7 / Economy 10

A fixed cheap window: 7 or 10 cheaper hours a day. Simple to schedule around, highly predictable. Economy 7 hours are often 00:30–07:30 but are set by your meter and vary by region and supplier, so check yours. On Octopus's standard Economy 7 tariff in October 2026, the night rate was about 14–15p/kWh and the day rate about 31–34p/kWh.

Best for simplicity · Works well with manual GivEnergy charge schedule

Octopus Go

A cheap rate from 00:30 to 05:30 every night: 9.4p/kWh as of October 2026, with a day rate of about 33–39p/kWh depending on region and whether you fix. Octopus says you need an electric car that you charge at home to join. Older Go agreements can have different hours, such as the four-hour 00:30–04:30, so check yours. Create a Timed Charge slot matching your hours in the GivEnergy app.

Simple and predictable · For homes with an electric car

Intelligent Octopus Go

A cheap rate for the whole home from 23:30 to 05:30: 8p/kWh as of October 2026, on fixed rates only, with a day rate of about 37–42p/kWh. It needs a compatible electric car or charger. Octopus smart-charges the car, not your battery, so set your own Timed Charge for the window. It crosses midnight, so split it in two (see the midnight rule).

For electric car owners · Needs a midnight split

Octopus Flux

Three rates every day, on UK clock time all year: cheapest 02:00–05:00, peak 16:00–19:00, standard the rest of the day. As of October 2026, import was about 15–17p, 26–28p and 36–39p/kWh, and export about 5p, 11–12p and 29–32p/kWh, depending on region. You need solar panels and a battery, an export MPAN, and Octopus import and export tariffs first. Charge in the cheap window and use Timed Export in the peak.

Octopus Flux guide →

Octopus Agile

Half-hourly prices that follow the wholesale market. Octopus publishes the next day's prices between 4pm and 8pm, caps them at 100p/kWh, and they can go below zero when there is a surplus of renewable power. In the month to 25 October 2026 they ranged from below zero (about −8p) to about 79p/kWh, and the 16:00 to 19:00 slots were usually the dearest. A fixed Timed Charge slot will not follow the cheapest slots, so most owners automate it, often with Home Assistant or GivTCP.

For advanced users · Requires active schedule management or automation

Cosy Octopus

For homes with a heat pump, electric boiler or electric radiators. Three cheap windows a day, 04:00–07:00, 13:00–16:00 and 22:00–00:00 (about 13–15p/kWh as of October 2026), and a peak from 16:00 to 19:00 (about 41–45p/kWh). A Timed Charge slot in the 13:00–16:00 window fills the battery for the evening peak.

Heat pump or electric heating needed · One slot per window

Octopus battery control

Two Octopus products control a GivEnergy battery themselves. Intelligent Octopus Flux runs the battery's whole schedule, but in October 2026 Octopus showed it as temporarily unavailable and open only to customers who bought solar and a battery from Octopus. Charge Pack is an add-on for Go, Intelligent Go and standard tariffs that takes over the battery for about two grid sessions a week. Either one overrides your manual schedule while it is in control, and Octopus says Charge Pack cannot be combined with another battery service such as Axle Energy.

Smart tariff lockout guide →

Standard flat-rate tariff (avoid)

Same unit rate all day. The battery charges and discharges at the same cost. Round-trip efficiency losses (typically 85–92%) mean you pay more than you save. Only beneficial for solar self-consumption, not arbitrage.

Compare time-of-use tariffs if you are on a flat rate

Octopus integration
Octopus

Setting up GivEnergy with Octopus tariffs

Octopus Energy has several time-of-use tariffs that suit a GivEnergy battery. Each one works differently, so know which you are on before you connect any service to the battery.

Octopus Go setup in GivEnergy app

1
Confirm your cheap window

Octopus Go's cheap window is 00:30–05:30, five hours, on UK clock time all year. Older Go agreements can differ, such as the four-hour 00:30–04:30, so check the hours on your own agreement. The Octopus app or your online account shows them.

2
Create Timed Charge slot in GivEnergy

In the GivEnergy app or portal: go to EMS settings → Timed Charge. Set Slot 1 to the window from step 1. Set Target SOC to 100% (or whatever level you need for the day). Save the schedule, and leave Eco mode on: outside the slot the system goes back to Eco, charging from surplus solar and meeting the home's demand. The battery should begin charging at the start of your window on the next cycle.

3
Leave Octopus battery control off unless you want it

On Go, the Timed Charge slot in GivEnergy is all you need. Octopus's battery-control products take over the battery: Charge Pack, which works with Go, does so for each grid session and then hands it back. Connect one only if you want Octopus to run the battery, and then remove your own slots so the two do not compete.

4
Verify the schedule is applying

Check the app or portal the morning after your first scheduled charge. The battery SOC should have risen to your target during the cheap window. If it hasn't, check the midnight rule below — this is the most common cause of first-night failures.

Octopus battery control: use one control system, not two

Intelligent Octopus Flux connects with your GivEnergy account login and then schedules the battery's charging and discharging itself, so the schedules you set in the GivEnergy app are overridden. Charge Pack does the same during its grid sessions. If you want Octopus to manage your battery, remove any manual schedules in GivEnergy. If you want to control it yourself, do not connect them. Running both causes the smart tariff lockout behaviour many users complain about. Intelligent Octopus Go is different: it controls the car's charging, not the battery.

Configuration

Setting up a complete daily charge/discharge schedule

A complete schedule pairs a charge slot with a discharge slot. Many GivEnergy owners only set up the charge window, leaving the discharge to default — which means the battery may discharge at the wrong times.

Timed Charge — fill during cheap rate

EMS slot

Set to match your tariff's cheap window. Target SOC: 100% (or enough for the next day's usage). This is when the battery draws from the grid at the lowest rate.

Timed Discharge — power home during peak

EMS slot

Set to cover morning and evening peak periods. Target SOC: 4% (or your preferred reserve). The battery powers your home instead of drawing expensive peak-rate grid electricity.

Eco mode — leave it on

Stays on

Eco mode stays on alongside your Timed Charge slot. Outside it the system runs in Eco: solar and the battery meet the home's demand, surplus solar charges the battery, and the grid is used only when needed.

Example: Octopus Go schedule on its 00:30–05:30 cheap window. If your agreement has different hours, use your own.

SlotTimeTarget SOC
Charge Slot 100:30 → 05:30100%
Discharge Slot 105:30 → 09:0020%
Eco mode (no slot)09:00 → 16:00Solar priority
Discharge Slot 216:00 → 23:594%
Common mistake

The midnight rule — why your battery isn't charging overnight

GivEnergy charge and discharge slots cannot cross midnight. Each slot must sit entirely within a single 24-hour period. This catches out almost every new GivEnergy owner setting up their first schedule. Intelligent Octopus Go's 23:30–05:30 window is one that needs splitting.

Incorrect — slot crosses midnight

WRONG
Charge Slot 1: 23:30 → 05:30
This slot will not work — it spans midnight.

✓ Correct — split into two slots

CORRECT
Charge Slot 1: 23:30 → 23:59
Charge Slot 2: 00:00 → 05:30
Both slots apply correctly.

This applies in both the app and the portal. The midnight boundary rule is a firmware-level constraint — it applies identically whether you're using the GivEnergy mobile app or the web portal (givenergy.cloud). Some versions of the app will silently accept a crossing slot but not apply it. Others show an error. Either way, always split any slot that would cross midnight into two separate slots.

Solar owners

Export tariff — getting paid for surplus solar

If you have solar panels, a Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) tariff pays you for electricity exported to the grid. With a battery, the decision becomes more nuanced — do you store surplus for self-use or export it for payment?

Option 1 — maximise self-consumption

Store all surplus solar in the battery. Use it during peak periods instead of paying peak-rate import. Best when your export rate is lower than your peak import rate.

Option 2 — maximise export income

Export surplus solar at a high SEG rate. Use Timed Export in GivEnergy for high-value periods: the battery discharges at full or set power, covers the house load first and exports the rest. Works best with the Octopus Flux peak export rate or Agile Outgoing evening prices.

Option 3 — hybrid (recommended)

Charge from cheap overnight rate. Use solar to cover daytime loads. Export only genuine surplus beyond battery full capacity. Best overall financial outcome for most households.

SEG rate vs peak import saving. For example, if you are paid 12p/kWh for export (Outgoing Octopus's flat rate in October 2026) and pay 27p/kWh to import, storing surplus solar to use in the evening saves you 15p more per kWh than exporting it. Only consider exporting stored battery energy when the export rate comes close to or above what you pay to import. That happens in the Octopus Flux peak window (about 29–32p/kWh for export in October 2026) and on some Agile Outgoing evenings.

Troubleshooting
Problems

Battery not charging as expected — checklist

Work through these in order — they cover the causes of the vast majority of tariff-related battery charging failures.

1
Check the midnight rule

If your cheap window starts before midnight (e.g. 23:30), split the slot at midnight. This is the single most common cause of schedules that look correct but don't apply.

2
Check CT clamp direction

An inverted CT clamp makes the inverter think it's exporting when it's importing, and vice versa. The battery may believe household demand is already met and refuse to charge. See the CT clamp direction guide.

3
Check for API override

If another service is connected to your GivEnergy account (Intelligent Octopus Flux, Octopus's Charge Pack, Axle Energy or Home Assistant, for example), its control signals override your manual schedule. Check givenergy.cloud/account-settings/security, the address GivEnergy Software gives for removing a connected service — if a third-party integration is active there and you didn't intend it, remove it.

4
Check the smart meter is reporting data

Octopus's smart tariffs need a smart meter sending half-hourly readings: a SMETS2, or a SMETS1 made by Secure. If the meter stops reporting, the tariff, and any service that relies on it, may not work as expected. Your supplier can check the meter is communicating.

5
Check the charge schedule is actually saved

Occasionally the GivEnergy app shows a schedule that hasn't reached the inverter. Close and reopen the app, open the schedule again and check it still shows what you set. If you have GivEnergy Premium, check it shows as active in the web portal too.

FAQ

GivEnergy tariff — common questions answered

Any tariff with a cheap window works, and which one fits depends on what else you have. As of October 2026, Octopus Go charges 9.4p/kWh from 00:30 to 05:30 and Intelligent Octopus Go 8p/kWh from 23:30 to 05:30, but Octopus says both need an electric car you charge at home. Octopus Flux (cheapest 02:00 to 05:00) needs solar panels as well as the battery, Cosy Octopus needs a heat pump or electric heating, and Economy 7 is offered by most suppliers. Rates vary by region and change, so check your own. On a flat-rate tariff there is no point charging from the grid: losses in the battery mean you lose money buying and using at the same price.
Go's cheap window is 00:30 to 05:30, which does not cross midnight, so first check that the Timed Charge slot is enabled, has those times and has a target SoC above the battery's charge. If your slot starts before midnight (Intelligent Octopus Go starts at 23:30), the midnight rule applies: split it into two slots, one ending at 23:59 and one starting at 00:00. Other causes: a reversed CT clamp, so the inverter misreads import and export, or another service, such as Axle Energy or one of Octopus's battery-control products, changing your schedule.
It depends which product you mean. Intelligent Octopus Go controls an electric car's charging, not the home battery, so you set a Timed Charge slot for its 23:30 to 05:30 window yourself, split at midnight. The Octopus products that control a GivEnergy battery are Intelligent Octopus Flux, which Octopus showed as temporarily unavailable in October 2026, and Charge Pack, an add-on that takes over the battery for grid sessions. If one of them is connected and you also have manual schedules in the GivEnergy app, the two compete and the battery behaves unpredictably. Use one control system: let Octopus run the battery and remove your own slots, or disconnect it and manage the schedule yourself.
Yes — Economy 7 is one of the most straightforward tariffs to use with GivEnergy. Set a Timed Charge slot matching your E7 hours (often 00:30–07:30, but check with your supplier — it varies by meter). Apply the midnight rule if your window starts before midnight. Set a Timed Discharge slot for morning and evening peaks. As a guide, Octopus's standard Economy 7 tariff in October 2026 charged about 14–15p/kWh at night and 31–34p/kWh by day, depending on region.
The remote diagnostic is free — tell us your tariff and what the battery is doing, and we'll review your schedule and portal settings against that tariff at no charge. If you'd like us to set the schedule up properly, or fix one that isn't saving what it should, such as the midnight split or a clash with an Octopus battery service, that is done remotely for a flat £125, and if we can't sort it remotely there is nothing to pay. We can confirm a reversed CT clamp remotely, but the fix is physical: the clamp has to be turned round. The CT clamp direction guide explains who can do that. Tariff and schedule work is all done through the portal, so it rarely needs an on-site visit. Full pricing →
Usually within a single remote session, often the same day. Once we've seen your tariff and current slots we can set up or correct the charge and discharge windows there and then, and you'll see the battery fill on the very next cheap-rate window. Most tariff problems are a settings issue — the midnight rule, an overlap, or an API override — rather than the battery itself; if yours still won't fill overnight, the battery not charging overnight guide covers every cause.
Independent GivEnergy support

Battery not charging on your tariff?

We set up GivEnergy charge schedules correctly for any tariff — Octopus Go, Economy 7, Agile, or anything else. If your battery isn't saving what it should, a remote review finds the problem fast and sets up the correct schedule for your usage.

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