Charging window
Charging window in the SpeicherCampus context: must be coordinated with PV, tariffs, peak shaving and the backup power reserve. Technically, the term is usually described as the time window for charging.
What does charging window mean?
The charging window is the period in which the storage system can charge without disturbing its tasks — typically the midday PV surplus hours or cheap tariff periods at night. Its length and position decide whether the capacity actually gets filled in daily operation.
The charging window becomes critical in peak shaving: if load peaks follow each other closely, the system must recharge between them — otherwise it is empty at the second peak.
What matters in practice
- derive the charging window from load profile and PV generation, don’t guess it
- choose the charging power so the window is long enough to refill
- coordinate competing goals: charging for peak shaving vs. absorbing PV
- with dynamic tariffs the window shifts daily — an EMS task
Practical example
A business has load peaks at 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. Between them lie five hours of PV surplus — enough to refill the 215 kWh system at 50 kW charging power. Analysing the charging window made the double peak manageable.
The SpeicherCampus perspective
SpeicherCampus checks charging windows as a fixed part of sizing: capacity without a reachable charging window is dead capital.