Curtailment via the cloud for grid operators
With our Cloud Curtailment platform you can easily access flexible PV capacity from small consumer connections.
This gives grid operators a fast and effective solution to temporarily smooth out peaks in feed-in on sunny days, without infrastructure modifications.
How it works
1. Activation by PV owner
Solar panel owners activate their inverter(s) within 2 minutes via the online white-label activation flow:
- Authorize: The owner authorizes via the method required by the inverter manufacturer.
- Grant permission: PV owner grants permission for monitoring and control of the installation.
- Live insight: The account is immediately active and data/curtailment is live available via our APIs. We also provide insight into the local grid voltage (measured at the inverter), for monitoring overvoltage issues in LV grids.
We link the registered installations to your substations, and via our cloud-to-cloud connections with inverter manufacturers, you can temporarily curtail PV installations from private owners, SMEs, and housing corporations — fully online, without physical modifications to the installations.
2. Request via secure API
Up to 15 minutes in advance you can submit the curtailment requirement per station via our secure API.
3. Execution of curtailment
We execute curtailment via the official grid services connections with inverter manufacturers, without changes to the installation and without impact on performance, lifespan, or warranty. We monitor the curtailed power and report it back to you per station.
4. Live monitoring by customers
Via our Smart Solar API or your own white-label app, you provide the PV owner live insight into what is happening (are my panels being dimmed?), gross generation and curtailed kWh, and accumulated compensation (you determine the compensation yourself).
5. Compensation handling for customers
We take care of handling compensations to PV owners. The amount and calculation (based on curtailed kWh, activated capacity, or fixed compensation) is determined by you.
6. Staff portal and 2nd line support
As a grid operator you have access to the staff portal with dashboards, live capacity per station, and current status per connection/inverter for answering customer questions. We provide second-line support for technical assistance and inquiries.
Successful case: Enexis
In spring 2025, Zonnedimmer together with Enexis Netbeheer carried out a successful pilot. During periods of high feed-in, hundreds of residential installations were controlled via the cloud, with good conversion from contacted PV owners, positive feedback on the online activation process, and demonstrable reduction of pressure on substations during solar peaks.
This result underlines the value of cloud curtailment as a practical and quickly deployable tool for combating congestion and keeping the grid safe and stable.
Benefits
- Quickly available instrument to prevent congestion during solar peaks
- Low cost: Targeted per station and fully software-based solution
- Activating residential PV owners creates awareness and participation of residents for a stable neighborhood grid
Security
Our SaaS platform is designed with security-by-design as a starting point, including end-to-end encrypted data exchange and the use of partner-specific API tokens with limited validity.
For communication between our platform and the cloud environments of supported inverter manufacturers, we use specialized grid services connections with extra security, contracted and under SLA.
You can use our platform and the white-label activation flow for PV owners without transferring or storing customers' personal data.