Note: The terms “device” and “appliance” are often used interchangeably in the Powerlake documentation. A Powerlake “device” generally refers to an appliance or other electrical load which is under the control of the Powerlake system. “Device” may also refer to a phone or computer used to access the Powerlake app, and should not be confused with a controlled device.
Account
Creation
Use a secure email address and a strong password. Both your email address and password can be changed at any time. If you lose access to your email address, you may lose access to your Powerlake account.
Security
Security settings are found under /dashboard/account, please take the time to review them and secure your account.
Two Factor Authentication
Two factor authentication is strongly recommended to keep your account secure, and can be enabled at any time. Once enabled, we will send a PIN code to your email address during each login attempt. Do not enter the code if you do not recognise the login attempt. If you receive a login code without attempting to log in, your login details have been compromised and you should change your password immediately.
Update email address
You can update your email address at any time. Upon doing so you will be asked to enter your login credentials. Enter the confirmation code sent to the new email addresses to complete the update.
Update password
You should change your password if you suspect it has been compromised. The app will prompt you to confirm the new password and enter your existing password. You will then be logged out of all browsers/devices.
Logout
Make sure to log out when you’re finished using a shared device or browser.
Logout Everywhere
Log out everywhere logs you out of all browsers and devices. This is useful if you lose access to a device or if you can’t remember whether you logged out of a shared device/browser.
Account Deletion
Account deletion is permanent. Make sure this is the desired outcome before confirming. All of your subscriptions will be cancelled and all of your data may be deleted. We may retain some information to comply with Australian law as descibed in our privacy policy.
Device Settings
Powerlake devices created in the app use the lowest cost and/or the most renewable energy available while obeying the following rules.
See use cases and supported hardware to learn more about common types of devices and how we can control them for you.
Boost
Turns a device on for a set period. This is useful if your hot water ever becomes cold, your battery needs a top up, or your pool pump needs to run a little longer.
Boost Duration
The device will return to normal operation after this period.
Ignore Max Price
Prevents a device from using expensive energy while boosted. We recommend keeping this setting disabled in most cases to prevent high usage bills from your electricity retailer.
Cancel Boost
Returns the device to the normal control scheme described below.
Name
It’s yours, so give it a name!
Device Presets
You may select from a number of presets to get close to the right settings.
Make note of the help texts that appear next to each of the setting inputs. They are context sensitive and will help to guide you through the setup. The presets help text is particularly useful. Flip through the presets and see how the help text responds!
Control
Duty Cycle
The device will aim to turn on for this amount of time each day. By default it will aim to use the cheapest energy available. Setting this to 7 hours will make your device aim to use the seven cheapest hours of energy each day (and avoid the 17 most expensive).
This is the gist of Powerlake.
NOTE: You don’t need to know about the remaining settings if you’re new or you want a simpler experience.
Period
The device will aim to achieve the Duty Cycle when averaged over this many days. This allows the device to use more energy on cheaper days and less energy on more expensive days. Play with some numbers and remember the help text!
Renewable Bias
Sets the prioritisation balance of using renewable energy vs using the lowest cost energy. Cheaper energy is often more renewable anyway, so it’s completely up to you.
This can help to encourage self-consumption for those with solar systems in places where solar dominates the market.
Control (Advanced)
Advanced control settings allow you to get things working exactly how you like them. They enable more advanced behaviour and can be used to solve many common issues.
Max Price
The device will only use energy when the price is below this number. It’s intended as a backstop to protect you from prices you’re unwilling to pay. This setting is powerful and overrides most other settings, so use it wisely.
An interesting way to use this if prices go negative in your area, is to set it to zero (or a negative number), and to set the Duty Cycle to 24 hours per day. The device will then turn on every time the price goes below the threshold, and turn off when it goes above. This can be used to curtail solar exports, or to simply make money by using (or wasting) energy when prices are negative. Make sure Renewable Bias is set to zero if you do this.
Response Time
The amount of time that the market has to be either favorable or unfavorable before a device will commit to turning on or off. This helps to prevent devices from turning on and off too frequently when the market is borderline favorable.
NOTE: Turning devices on and off too frequently can cause excess physical wear, so don’t set this too low unless you know what you’re doing. We won’t be held liable for any damage caused by turning things on and off too much.
Spike Threshold
The change in price required for a device to ignore the Response Time. This setting helps you to avoid paying for sudden high prices, and to capture sudden low prices. It can also cause a device to turn on and off frequently when set too low, and/or when the market is extremely volatile. Pick a number that you consider to be a material change in price.
Interrupt Usage (Requires Energy Monitoring)
If this setting is disabled, the device will stay on until it stops using energy, even if market conditions become unfavorable. It will still turn off if the price goes higher than the Max Price.
Adaptive Duty (Requires Energy Monitoring)
This feature automatically adjusts the Duty Cycle based on energy usage patterns within the last week. It should only be used for energy storage systems such as hot water systems and batteries which take variable amounts of time to “top up” each day based on usage. It can’t be used on devices that always use energy when they’re on, such as pool pumps.
Minimum Duty
The minimum Duty Cycle set when no energy usage has been measured within the last week. Two hours provides a good balance between the responsiveness to increased usage and low price capitalisation.
Idle Power
A device is considered to be idle (not using energy) when it uses less than the idle power.