Energy Arbitrage

Energy arbitrage is charging a battery when electricity is cheap and discharging it when electricity is expensive, earning the price difference less the round trip losses.

Behind the meter the prices come from a time of use tariff. In front of the meter they come from day ahead and real time wholesale markets, and the energy management system bids and then delivers. Arbitrage pays only when the spread exceeds the losses and the cycle cost of aging the cells, so an EMS weighs each cycle against the warranty rather than cycling on every spread.

Also called: Load shifting, Time shifting, Price arbitrage