1. What is Podero Lab?

Podero builds a platform for connecting and controlling energy devices (solar inverters, home batteries, heat pumps, electric vehicles) through the manufacturers' official interfaces (APIs). In Podero Lab, we test our software with real devices in real households before it is rolled out at scale by our customers (utilities). As a participant, you make your device available for testing, use our app, and give us feedback.

2. What are the requirements to participate?

• Your energy device is connected to the internet and you have the login credentials for the manufacturer's web portal.
• Podero confirms before admission that your device is a fit for the program (we are looking for specific manufacturers and models).
• You connect your device yourself in the Podero app, using your manufacturer login. For certain brands, we offer to do the onboarding together in a short video call (about 10 minutes).
• Participation is voluntary and starts once your device is successfully connected.

3. What does Podero do with my device?

Your device is a field device: it is installed at your property and used in your real household. With it, we test our software under real conditions. Tests are carried out once or recurringly (automated).

What we test:

• Technical onboarding – the full account-linking flow an end user would go through, including unlinking, relinking, and clean fallback to the device's standard behavior when optimization is switched off.
• Model & firmware compatibility – consistent behavior across models and firmware versions, so we can reliably state which devices we support.
• Telemetry (monitoring) – that the readings our optimization relies on arrive reliably and plausibly, including polling frequency, rate limits, and behavior around connectivity gaps. Monitoring never interferes with the operation of your device.
• Command acceptance – that the API accepts the commands we optimize with (charge schedules, operating modes, setpoints) across models and firmware versions, and that rejections come back clearly so we can handle them.
• Steering in practice – that your device actually acts upon accepted commands under real conditions: real consumption patterns, real network conditions, measured compliance and savings vs. forecast. Typical steering actions are shifting grid consumption in time based on electricity prices, limiting feed-in to the grid (e.g. during negative electricity prices), and charging or discharging home batteries, including from the grid.
• End-user experience – that optimization is never noticeable in comfort, and how the integration handles real-world situations like replugging, re-accepting terms, or manual user overrides.

Testing runs throughout your entire participation. We keep you informed about the actions we perform through the agreed channel. By participating, you consent to these steering tests; separate approval before individual commands is not required.

Access to your device happens exclusively through the manufacturer's official API and within the parameters intended by the manufacturer.

4. How long does participation last?

Participation runs for 6 weeks from the moment your device is connected. Testing takes place throughout the entire period, covering varied prices and usage patterns. We ask you to keep your device connected for the entire duration. An extension by another 6 weeks at a time is possible by mutual agreement.