Sponge EMC — Dynamic Derating

Dynamic Derating

Repower the array.
Protect the
contract.

Ontario FiT and microFIT contracts are maturing, and the inverters that earn them are failing. Repowering with new inverters and added DC protects the revenue. Sponge takes supervisory control of every inverter onsite, holds net export at the contracted maximum, and ramps the healthy units when others drop. The contract stays intact. So does the revenue.

Contracted

Export Ceiling

Net export held at the exact FiT or PPA maximum, continuously

Any brand

Fleet Supervision

One controller governs every inverter onsite, old or new, any make

Failover

Revenue Recovery

Healthy inverters ramp up when a unit drops, holding output near the cap

When to Deploy Dynamic Derating

⚡

Aging FiT Repower

Ontario FiT and microFIT sites 15+ years in are hitting inverter end of life. Repower to hold production through the rest of the contract term.

📋

Contracted Export Maximum

FiT, PPA, or distribution agreements that cap net export. The EMC enforces the exact limit set at commissioning.

💰

Fault-Tolerant Revenue

When one inverter fails, the rest ramp up to keep the site producing near the cap, protecting contracted revenue.

🌐

Multi-Brand, Mixed Vintage

New inverters and added DC capacity running alongside legacy units. Sponge coordinates the whole fleet under one export ceiling.

Pricing (CAD)

Annual subscription · requires EMC Pro or Pro+

Component	Installer (CAD)	Basis
Dynamic Derating subscription	$125 / inverter · yr or $6 / kW · yr	Recurring · whichever is greater · minimum $1,000/yr · billed Sponge direct in Monitor Base
EMC Pro / Pro+ — required	$2,100 / $5,875	One-time hardware · multi-inverter fleets require a Pro-class EMC
Commissioning	$2,500 – $9,000	One-time · per site — onsite/remote commissioning, number of inverters, inverter-model integration requirements

Term discount: 3-year −10% · 5-year −20% · full remaining contract term −25% (prepaid). Revenue-grade meter and CT not included — separate procurement.

Compatible Inverters:

Others on Request Metering:

Revenue-grade Equivalent

Live power flow, export held at the cap: Solar production (amber) is derated to a flat ceiling at the contracted export maximum; grid draw (red) covers the rest. The EMC trims generation before a single kilowatt crosses the limit.

The EMC communicates with the energy meter and inverter fleet via RS485 or Ethernet — or through a TCP Converter for RS485-native inverters. Three configurations, all included in commissioning.

Dynamic Derating Function Map

Three supported communication configurations · select based on inverter protocol and site network architecture

Power / Wiring

Analogue

RS485 (Modbus RTU)

Ethernet (Modbus TCP)

Diagram is schematic — not installation drawings

Normal Operations

Dynamic Derating runs two control loops at once. The first trims the fleet to hold net export at the contracted maximum. The second ramps the healthy inverters back up whenever a unit faults or drops offline, keeping the site as close to the cap as possible. Feed-forward control means the EMC acts before export crosses the limit, not after.

Configurable Setpoints

Contracted Export Maximum (kW)

Import / Export Buffer (kW)

Fail Safe Power Limit (%)

The commissioning engineer sets the contracted export maximum at project handoff. The import/export buffer defines the permitted flow at the point of common coupling. If meter communication drops, the fail safe limit applies automatically.

Step 01

📊

Sample

EMC reads power measurements in parallel from the service entrance meter and all inverters simultaneously — at up to 5 Hz.

Sample rate determined by site communication architecture.

Step 02

⚖️

Compare

At each sample interval, EMC compares inverter fleet generation against service entrance power flow and calculates the setpoint needed to hold the import/export buffer.

Feed-forward control — proactive, not reactive.

Step 03

✍️

Derate

If fleet output would carry net export past the contracted maximum, the EMC writes a reduced power limit to the fleet. Every inverter is trimmed in proportion to its current output.

No single inverter is throttled while others run at full capacity.

Step 04

⚡

Recover

If an inverter faults or drops offline, the EMC lifts the limit on the healthy units, ramping output back toward the cap to recover the lost production.

The second control loop — revenue protection on inverter failure.

Sponge Monitor Base — Included

Every Sponge-equipped site includes Monitor Base: unified visibility across the whole fleet, regardless of inverter brand or age. It runs three ways, so the crew commissioning on site and the owner watching revenue see the same live data.

🖥️

On the EMC

Touchscreen on the controller. Commission and configure at the panel, no laptop.

🌐

Web App

Full portfolio in any browser at app.sponge.to.

📱

iOS + Android

Native mobile apps for fleet visibility on the go.

Control Panel

A live digital twin of the whole site

Every inverter, meter, array, and load is a node you can see and set. Sponge takes supervisory control of the entire fleet here — Solis, Growatt, any brand onsite — then holds it all under one contracted export ceiling. No config files, no command line, no site visit.

Set the contracted export maximum per site. The EMC enforces it continuously.

Ontario microFIT and FiT rate profiles are built in and kept current.

Dashboard — Production at a Glance

Aggregated production and consumption by day, week, month, and year, plus instantaneous power flow.

Monitor Base dashboard, energy balance and power flow

Energy Balance + Power Flow

Every kilowatt-hour, accounted for

On a FiT export site the dashboard shows generation captured against the contracted ceiling. Here, 100% of production is exported under the cap — the number that pays the contract.

Notification Center

Fault Intelligence

Every inverter fault code, across every brand onsite, aggregates into one system. Assign a severity class to each code, then decide who gets a push notification and when. A single stalled Solis or Growatt inverter is the gap between full and lost revenue, so the alert reaches the right person the moment it happens.

Critical

Immediate push + email. An inverter is down and revenue is at risk.

Warning

Batched alert. Performance anomalies worth tracking before they escalate.

Informational

Dashboard-only. Routine status with no action required.

Procurement, Install & Commissioning Process

Send the drawing. Sponge designs the control layer and ships the hardware. Your crew mounts, connects, and commissions the system, with Sponge support on call.

01

📋

Design Consultation

Email your project SLD to info@sponge.to. Sponge marks up the drawing with component requirements — EMC unit, energy meter, CTs — and communication architecture (TCP or RTU). If anything needs clarification, Sponge reaches out before quoting. You receive the marked-up SLD and a project quote.

02

📄

Purchase Order

Submit your PO with site install date and shipping address. Energy meters and CTs are sourced separately — quote these through your normal procurement channel.

03

🔧

Mount and Connect

Sponge ships the EMC to site with installation instructions. Your crew mounts the unit, connects power, ethernet, inverters, and meters, then confirms internet connectivity. Once the EMC is online, you're ready to commission from the Sponge app.

04

✅

Guided Commissioning

Commission the system from the Sponge app: build the single-line diagram, configure each component, and run Verify Configuration. Set the grid export limit to the contracted export maximum, enable Actively Control Grid Export on every participating inverter, then confirm the derating status banner on the dashboard. Control goes live the moment commissioning completes, with no discovery period. Capable crews run this solo; Sponge support is on call at info@sponge.to when you need it.

Note

Revenue-grade meter and CT not included — separate procurement required. See Field Notes on the Sponge website for selection instructions.

Questions about a project?

Reach Sponge at info@sponge.to or our distribution partner at sales@frankensolar.ca