Spring and summer bring the largest price spreads
Solar generation peaks at midday, when demand is lower, and fades in the evening, when demand rises. That creates large price differences within a day, and arbitrage earns revenue from them. In autumn and winter, wind takes over. Wind is spread more evenly across the day, so spreads are typically smaller. Historically, the months from March to September have offered most of the year’s spread opportunity.
Weekends follow the market
Weekday and weekend patterns change with the season. In spring and summer, weekends can bring very high revenue opportunities, because strong solar production meets low demand. That creates volatility and a high need for flexibility. In other periods, the pattern shifts. The algorithm uses no fixed weekday pattern. It forecasts prices for each day and re-optimizes as prices change.
Cycling follows the seasons too
Your battery’s cycle budget isn’t used evenly across the year. The optimization spends more cycles in spring and summer, when spreads are wide, and fewer in winter. Fewer cycles in winter are planned, not a sign of weaker performance. The quieter winter months are also a good time for planned maintenance.
Multi-market optimization spreads the risk
Trading across balancing services and wholesale markets gives your battery more ways to earn than a wholesale-only strategy. Revenues still follow the seasonal trend.
Plan with a full year
A strong summer month or a weak winter month says little about annual revenue. Plan your business case on a full year.