What Are Negative Energy Prices? 

Negative pricing occurs when the supply of electricity on the grid vastly exceeds demand—often on sunny days when solar production is high. To balance the grid, electricity providers may effectively pay consumers to use power, or, more commonly, reduce or penalize the amount they’re willing to pay for exported solar energy. That means your surplus power could be worth nothing—or less than nothing—if sent to the grid.

Why Export for Less When You Can Use More?

When solar export prices are low or negative, self-consumption becomes far more valuable. That’s where SunPlugcomes in.

What is SunPlug?

SunPlug (Shelly Plug S) is a smart accessory that helps you make the most of your solar energy by automatically powering electrical appliances when solar energy is available. It works like a smart socket: you plug it into a standard outlet, and it only activates when there’s solar energy being generated more than the level that you set.

How it works:

On your site settings, you can configure SunPlug (Shelly Plug S) to turn on only when your solar production exceeds a certain threshold, for example, 3 kW. Once activated, it functions just like a regular power outlet, allowing you to run various appliances based on your solar power availability.

Use cases:

SunPlug is ideal for energy-intensive appliances that don’t need to run constantly, such as:

Pool heaters

• Garden irrigation systems (like automatic water sprinklers)
• Electric vehicle trickle charging
• Dehumidifiers or air purifiers and cooling systems
• Best use of solar energy is often by consuming it as it is produced, SunPlug helps you do just that in a simple way