Words explained

kW (kilowatt) — a rate, like the speed on a car's dial. How fast power is flowing right now.

kWh (kilowatt-hour) — an amount, like the distance travelled. 2 kW flowing for 3 hours is 6 kWh. Your bill is in kWh.

Inverter — the box that turns the panels' DC into the AC your house uses, and manages the battery.

Hybrid inverter — an inverter that handles solar, battery and grid together.

String — one chain of solar panels wired in series. Most homes have one or two.

kWp — the maximum power your panels could make in perfect conditions. Used to size the forecast.

Azimuth — which compass direction the panels face. South is 180°.

Tilt — the angle of the panels from flat. A typical pitched roof is around 30°.

SOC (state of charge) — how full the battery is, as a percentage.

Depth of discharge — how far down the battery is allowed to go before the inverter stops using it.

Export / feed-in — sending surplus power to the grid.

Import — taking power from the grid.

Curtailment — panels producing less than they could, because the battery is full and there is nowhere for the power to go.

Green tariff (зелений тариф) — a Ukrainian scheme paying households for exported solar.

Day-ahead market (РДН) — the Ukrainian hourly wholesale electricity market.

УЗЕ — the registration that lets a household buy at market prices.

Time-of-use (TOU) — the inverter's own built-in daily schedule of battery targets.

Work mode — the inverter's overall strategy: serve the house first, charge the battery first, or export.

Gen port — a second AC terminal for a generator or a switchable load.

Smart load — a load the inverter switches on when there is surplus power.

BMS (battery management system) — the electronics inside a battery pack that measure and protect each cell.

Collector / harvester — whatever reads your inverter and sends the data on: a phone, a Gateway, or Home Assistant.

Logger stick — the small Wi‑Fi module plugged into the inverter, through which most brands are read.

Modbus — the industrial protocol inverters speak.

Register — one numbered value inside the inverter, like a numbered pigeonhole.

Zigbee — the low-power radio used by smart sockets.

Island mode / local mode — running entirely on your home network with no internet.

MPPT — the part of the inverter that squeezes the most power out of a panel string. One MPPT usually means one string it can optimise independently.

CT clamp — a ring sensor clipped around your incoming mains cable so the inverter can measure what the whole house is drawing.

OTA — an update delivered "over the air", by Wi‑Fi, rather than by cable.

HACS — the community add-on store for Home Assistant, and how the Svitgrid integration is installed.

DHCP — how your router hands out addresses. It is why an inverter's address can change on its own.

AP isolation / guest network — a router setting that stops devices seeing each other. It will block your collector from reaching the inverter.

TOTP — the 6-digit code from an authenticator app, used for two-factor sign-in.

L1, L2, L3 — the three phases of a three-phase supply.

ФОП / legal entity — a registered business. Business entities do not qualify for the household green tariff.

Universal vs market supply — your contract type with your electricity supplier. The green tariff requires universal supply.

Commissioning year — the year your solar system was formally connected. It fixes which green tariff rate you are paid for its lifetime.