Next
SolarMax
Turn your solar and battery system into an intelligent energy partner.
Save money automatically with our dynamic import and export tariff that tracks the wholesale market price. With our new app we can optimise your solar and battery output through AI modelling and machine learning.
Smart energy. Clear insight. Complete control.
Automatic savings.
Our super-intelligent Al manages when to buy low and sells high. £50 minimum saving guaranteed.
Transparency.
See real-time prices, usage, and export earnings clearly. No hidden costs. Ever.
Control.
Choose automation or manual mode anytime, keeping full visibility and authority over your home energy.
Next Solar Max makes energy simple.
Overnight.
Your battery tops up from the grid when energy prices are low.
Midday.
Your solar panels and the grid work together to charge your battery when electricity is cheap.
Evening.
Stored energy powers your home to save you money. Excess energy that you don’t use can be sold to the grid.
See and control everything in one place.
Stay in sync.
Watch your battery work in real time and see power flow across your home.
Track your impact.
Monitor savings automatically and understand how every smart move adds up.
Stay in control.
Switch between auto or manual mode whenever you like. Your energy, your choice.
Stay in sync.
Watch your battery work in real time and see power flow across your home.
Stay in sync.
Watch your battery work in real time and see power flow across your home.
Track your impact.
Monitor savings automatically and understand how every smart move adds up.
Stay in control.
Switch between auto or manual mode whenever you like. Your energy, your choice.
Simple, transparent, pricing.
No monthly subscription fee.
We'll waive the monthly cost of the Next Solar Max subscription of £9.99 every month for 12 months, saving you a total of £119.88.
No exit fees.
Stay because you want to, not because you’re locked in.
£50 saving guarantee.
If you save less, we’ll credit the difference. No questions asked.
Switch to Next Solar Max in under a week.
1Sign up to Next Solar Max.
2Download our new app.
3Connect your battery and go live.
Don’t just take our word for it.
See what our customers have to say...
When you need some help with your energy, our dedicated Energy Specialists will work hard to get it sorted. Here’s what some of our customers have to say.
Rated 4.5 / 5 based on 192424 reviews. Showing our 5-star reviews.
How Next Solar Max compares.
Next Solar Max combines dynamic wholesale rates and AI control to deliver better value than traditional solar tariffs.
Next Solar Max | Smart Export Guarantee | |
|---|---|---|
AI automation | Yes | No |
Direct wholesale rates | Yes | No |
Import + export optimisation | Full 30-minute optimisation | Export only |
Transparent billing | Yes | Yes |
Exit fees | No | No |
Price match + guarantee | 12-month match + £50 saving | No |
Control modes | Auto or manual | Fixed-rate or variable flat rate modes |
Live visibility | Real-time usage and savings | Real-time usage and savings |
UK-based support | Yes, dedicated team | Yes, dedicated team |
Not got solar panels or a battery yet?
Upgrade your home setup. Add solar panels and a home battery to generate, store, and profit from your own renewable energy.
Frequently asked questions.
How does the battery automation work with the solar tariff?
Next Solar Max uses SmartShift™ technology to create a personalized 24-hour plan for your home. It continuously recalculates this plan by balancing three key forecasts: wholesale energy prices, your predicted solar generation, and your household usage patterns.
Because every battery has small energy losses during charging and discharging, the AI will only move energy when there is a clear financial benefit, ensuring it never charges or exports unless it’s truly saving you money.
How much battery charge can SmartShift access?
To protect your battery’s health and ensure you always have power for your home, SmartShift™ follows two key rules:
The 25% threshold: SmartShift™ will never automatically discharge your battery back to the grid if its charge level is below 25%.
Your minimum reserve: The automation always respects the "minimum reserve" or "backup level" you have set in your battery manufacturer’s app (e.g., Tesla or AlphaESS). If you have set a 30% reserve for emergencies, SmartShift™ will not touch that energy.
Any energy between your personal reserve level and 25% can still be used to power your home, but it won't be sold to the grid.
For the best performance, we recommend matching the "Minimum Reserve Level" in the Next Solar Max app to the settings in your manufacturer’s app.
Common SmartShift behaviour questions.
You may notice your battery sitting in "Preserve Charge" mode, meaning it isn't powering your home or filling up. SmartShift™ does this strategically to save your battery's capacity for a better financial opportunity later in the day. For example:
In summer: It might pause charging early in the morning so there is plenty of space to soak up low cost solar energy at midday when it’s cheapest.
In winter: It may preserve charge overnight to ensure you have a full battery ready to cover the expensive morning price peak, rather than using that energy while grid prices are still low.
Essentially, the AI is "saving" your battery for the moments when it will provide the most value to your bill.
What should I expect in my first few weeks of joining the solar tariff?
When you first join Next Solar Max, there are two key things to keep in mind for the best start:
The 30-day learning period: Our AI is a machine-learning model that gets smarter over time. It takes about 30 days to fully learn your household’s specific energy habits. Until then, it uses a "naive forecast" (assuming tomorrow will look like today). Your battery's efficiency and savings will typically improve after this first month of data.
Clear the path: You must disable any pre-programmed schedules or "Time-of-Use" settings in your battery manufacturer’s original app (like the Tesla or AlphaESS apps). If these old schedules are left running, they will conflict with the AI and prevent you from getting the full financial benefits of wholesale price shifts.
What happens if a battery gets replaced?
If you have your battery or inverter replaced, you will usually need to re-enroll your new equipment to restore the SmartShift™ automation.
First, check your app’s Devices tab; if the data is flowing and you can still control the system, no action is needed. However, if the data has stopped, you should disable automation in the app and navigate to Devices > Plan > SmartShift Settings to select the "Had your battery or inverter replaced?" option.
Once you submit the new details, it typically takes 5–10 business days to reconnect your system to the AI.
Troubleshooting SmartShift communication issues.
If the app shows a communication error, it usually means the SmartShift™ automation has lost its connection to your inverter. Before contacting support, follow these two steps:
Check your Wi-Fi: The most common cause is a dropped internet connection. Ensure your Wi-Fi signal is strong at the inverter’s location. If you’ve recently changed your router or password, you’ll need to update these settings on your inverter.
Check your hardware status: Open your battery manufacturer’s original app (e.g., Tesla, Sungrow, or AlphaESS). If the system shows as "offline" there as well, the issue is likely with your hardware or home network rather than the SmartShift automation.
If your hardware is online but the Next Solar Max app still cannot communicate, try switching the automation to "Manual" and back to "Auto" to refresh the link.
Your battery automation plan.
The SmartShift™ algorithm creates a dynamic, personalized plan for your battery that updates throughout the day.
This plan is visible in your app's Plan section as a 12-hour forecast, using grey bars to show exactly when the AI intends to charge, preserve, or discharge energy.
To build this plan, the AI weighs four factors: your forecasted solar production, your predicted household usage, wholesale price trends, and your chosen optimization mode.
If you ever want to see the "why" behind an action, you can toggle on "Show automation" in the app for a plain-English explanation of the current strategy.
The legal bit.
Full terms and conditions.
Next Solar Max terms and conditions.
E.ON Next Solar Price Match terms and conditions.
Disclaimers.
1 Your unit rate price per kilowatt hour (kWh) will update every 30 mins as it's based on changing wholesale market electricity prices for that half hour. You will be able to view a predicted price for each half hour on a 12 hour rolling basis. Once the half hour of delivery has started your unit rate for that half hour will become fixed and will be visible in the app. Your standing charge is fixed for the term. Non-electricity costs represented include: wholesale energy costs, network charges (per kWh and per day), metering costs, environmental costs and carbon offset costs and government policies.
2 While our product is designed to help optimise solar energy usage and battery efficiency which may lead to savings on your energy bills, we cannot guarantee specific monetary savings. Any projections or estimates of savings provided are for illustrative purposes only and should not be considered a guarantee of future results. Individual results will differ.
Next Solar Max – Price Match Offer Principal Terms v3.
Offer Principal Terms.
On this tariff you are benefitting from the Solar Max Price Match. The Price Match consists of 3 parts.
For each statement we will calculate your import and export charges using the rates set out in the table below. These amounts will be compared with your actual import and export charges under the Solar Max tariff. If the Solar Max tariff results in higher costs, the difference will be credited to your account. If the Solar Max provides a saving, you will retain the benefit of that saving. At the end date of the tariff you left to join Solar Max, we will calculate the costs you would have incurred had you remained on that tariff for its remaining term. If the costs would have been lower than the total benefit you have received under the Price Match to date, we will credit your account to ensure you are no worse off.
At the end of the 12 months, we will make sure you have benefitted by at least £50 on Next Solar Max.
If you leave the tariff prior to the end of the 12 months, no further credits will be applied to your account under the Solar Max Price Match.
The monthly cost of the Solar Max Subscription (£9.99) will be waived for 12 months.
Standing charge (per day): 53.804p
Peak unit rate (7am - 12am): 28.237p
Off-peak unit rate (12am - 7am): 6.7p
Export (SEG) rate: 16.5p
To be eligible for the Next Solar Max – Price Match v3 tariff you must:
Hold an existing E.ON Next electricity tariff account.
Meet the eligibility criteria for Next Solar Max tariff.