Solar surplus

Solar surplus is the power a home's panels are making that the home is not using at this moment. It is the difference between what the roof produces and what the house consumes, measured live, and it exists only while production is ahead of use.

Why it matters

Surplus is the only power Genie ever draws on. The appliance watches the home's energy flow and takes power only while the panels are making more than the home is using. When the margin closes, because a cloud crosses or the oven comes on or the sun sets, the surplus is gone and Genie stops. It never draws from the grid to make up the difference and never sends power to the grid.

Because surplus is live rather than averaged, Genie's work is bursty. It follows the sun and the household moment to moment. That is the reason the app shows quiet days as quiet days, and the reason Element 31 will never promise what a Genie earns: the surplus a given home has depends on its roof, its weather, and how much of its own power it uses.

How it works here

Genie reads the home's energy flow to tell whether surplus exists right now. The home is served first, always; whatever the household wants, including a home battery that is charging, is the home's use, and only what remains beyond that is surplus. The rule is enforced in the machine itself, not in fine print. The exact way the reading is taken, and which solar setups it works with, will be part of the full specifications published before anyone confirms a place.

Genie is in development, and the surplus-only rule is the first item on the principles page. The longer treatment is in Surplus only, never the grid.

Related terms

• Quiet day: what the app shows when there is little surplus or little demand.
• Sealed job: the work surplus is turned into.
• How Genie knows the home has surplus: the live comparison behind the term.