Smarter homes, empowered people: illuminating Next Solar Max and the future of home power
What if your home didn’t just use energy, but knew how to work it to your advantage? With Next Solar Max, households can earn, save and support the grid – automatically, effortlessly and intelligently
Imagine a home that doesn’t just consume electricity, one that reads the energy market, senses opportunities, and acts in your best interests. A home that charges its battery when prices are low, sells energy back to the grid when they spike, and aligns your appliances to run at just the right moment. And all of it happens automatically, in the background.
This is the reality behind our latest new technology, Amber, powered by smart energy automation that first emerged in Australia’s advanced energy market and is now being brought to the UK.
Intelligence built in
At the heart of Next Solar Max is a simple idea: smarter energy use. By connecting with your solar and battery system, the platform tracks live energy prices and manages how and when energy flows in and out of your home.
It reacts to real-world signals – like weather, grid conditions, and your household habits – and adapts over time. On a sunny afternoon when no one’s home, surplus solar can be stored or sold back to the grid. If demand across the grid is high, the system can hold energy in reserve to release later when it’s most valuable. And if your household tends to cook dinner or charge an EV at the same time each evening, the system learns those routines and aligns energy use to the most cost-effective windows. The result means more savings, more earnings, and less effort from you.
In short, the technology behind Next Solar Max – Amber - turns passive energy use into intelligent energy management – helping you to save more, earn more, all while doing less.
Whether it’s storing energy, using energy or selling it to the grid, there are a number of ways to benefit from Next Solar Max. We’ve outlined a few below.
Understanding dynamic pricing
Dynamic pricing might sound complex, but it’s simply how energy costs rise and fall throughout the day, matching up supply and demand between generators, the grid and consumers. As the UK shifts from a one-way system of power coming from a few big fossil fuel plants to a future system of millions of wind turbines solar panels, even electric car batteries, prices can swing more often. When renewables are abundant, prices drop; when demand spikes, they rise.
Next Solar Max taps into this ebb and flow – drawing on your stored energy when you need it most, and selling surplus back to the grid when it’s more valuable, all based on real-time wholesale prices and your household’s needs. And it’s not just your battery: the same smart logic works with solar panels, EV chargers and more, turning your home into an active player in a flexible, responsive energy system.
Do I need to change my lifestyle? Not at all.
The term ‘load shifting’ may sound disruptive, but in reality it’s as simple as running appliances when energy is cheaper.
Thanks to Amber’s automation, even that becomes effortless. For example, you can set your dishwasher or EV charger to run overnight – when energy prices are lower – and let the platform handle the rest. There’s no need to rethink your routines – the system adapts to you.
Looking ahead, smart home integration will take this even further – enabling appliances to react to live pricing data in real time, making best use of the energy system without any manual input at all.
Energy that doesn’t just save – it pays
Amber’s platform doesn’t just reduce your bills, it helps you earn. When your battery holds spare energy and the market conditions are right, Amber can sell that energy back to the grid.
That turns you and your home from a passive consumer into an active contributor, and a financially savvy one at that. Over time, as the system learns your habits and preferences, it fine tunes its performance to deliver the greatest return with the least involvement.
A smarter, fairer energy future
This isn’t simply about one new technology. It’s about a smarter energy system – one that rewards flexibility and makes energy more affordable, supports the decarbonisation of the grid, and empowers individuals to play an active role in the energy transition.
Volatility can sometimes be seen as a dangerous or scary concept, but as volatility becomes the norm in the UK’s energy market, so too does the opportunity to benefit from it. With Next Solar Max, households can confidently navigate this new landscape – turning energy use into something smarter, greener and more rewarding.
Together, we’re helping redefine what it means to be a customer – from passive user to empowered participant.