Starting battery charge (kWh)
How full the battery is at the beginning of the simulation window, expressed in kilowatt-hours of stored energy. Leave blank to default to half capacity — the most neutral assumption for a single-day model.
How the simulator uses it
The simulator starts the day with this much energy in the battery and rolls forward from there. For range-mode (multi-day) runs, only the first day uses this value — subsequent days chain from the previous day’s charge at the end of the day.
When you have an inverter connection linked to the layout and the calculation starts “now”, the simulator overrides this field with the inverter’s live reading so the forecast begins from reality rather than the typed-in guess.
Typical values
- Blank (auto) — default; half capacity. Good for one-day “average sunny day” scenarios.
- Capacity — full battery. Use when modelling a full-battery-by-dawn scenario (e.g. after an overnight off-peak top-up).
- Min reserve value — empty battery. Use for worst-case morning-after-cloudy-week scenarios.
Closes this tab and returns to the calculator.