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31/05/2026

HomeSeer has published an article about SWOpti!

For its first article in its brand new "Customer Highlights" blog, HomeSeer has chosen SWOpti! You can check out the article by clicking HERE, but it has been reproduced below for your convenience:

HomeSeer Customer Highlights #1: Introducing SWOpti
HomeSeer's first customer highlight featuring Jean-Jacques Filby and his SWOpti system
HomeSeer is happy to introduce Jean-Jaccques Filby and his SWOpti system in this first issue of our Customer Highlights blog. SWOpti is a new way to improve your smart home system through green tech and optimizing solar energy production, adding additional value to your HS4 System.

Who is Jean-Jacques Filby

About

Jean-Jacques Filby is a home automation and solar energy enthusiast living in France. He is currently in his late fifties, and before moving into software development, he has worked as a transportation industry controller and later as a translator (primarily patents and tech documents).
Over the years he has developed his home automation system to improve his home for his family and children. He is a husband and has six children, the youngest is now 17 and the oldest (twins) are 24. Managing such a large household naturally comes with its complications such as chores and appointments, but there is also room for special interests, such as announcing major earthquakes when they occur. From there he has been steadily developing more features so that his system can evolve alongside the needs and practicalities of his family.

Entry to Home Automation

Around 2010, Jean-Jacques began experimenting with smart automation. The prescient needs of the time were figuring out how to control a fish tank pump, automate reminders for household chores to coordinate such a large family, and automating small repetitive tasks. As time progressed he developed a fondness and appreciation for home automation and began to steadily expand his scope. Through this process he began to research more advanced systems, and it was through that process he initially found and later decided on HomeSeer. Starting with HS3, he made his decision. In his own words, “HomeSeer stood out from the options available at the time; it was a robust platform capable of handling both simple automation and highly complex logic. Its scripting capability was particularly important, allowing full customization, so any features it did not have out of the box I could design on an as-needed basis”. After his initial adoption of HS3, he has continued to build on his system for 15 years now.

What is the SWOpti System?

Inspiration
In 2021, Jean-Jacques installed solar panels to offset ever-increasing energy costs. One summer day, he noticed a problem. On particularly cloudy days his hot water tank would switch to the grid for electricity for about an hour. Later, when sunlight returned, there would be abundant free energy, but the opportunity had already been missed. This led to a key insight: appliances should operate only when free solar energy is actually available. After research he found that existing solutions were cloud-based, severely limited, based on weather forecasts or not truly real-time. None matched what he wanted: a fully local system reacting to real conditions on the roof, minute by minute. The solution he developed would later become SWOpti.
In a nutshell SWOpti is a program that is based off of HomeSeer’s HS4 system that monitors and directs solar energy usage, it integrates automations and conditions to maximize personal solar energy production so that it is utilized in the home as opposed to inefficiently sending it to the electrical grid. It comes with its own data display interface to keep users up to date on performance and conditions and allows you to track historical energy use. It allows users to have all the same power of the traditional HS4 software but allows them to intelligently manage their solar systems, utilize smart chargers, and coordinate peripheral smart technology for renewable energy ecosystems. And all this, automatically.
What SWOpti does
SWOpti is designed to maximize self-consumption of renewable energy (solar or wind) by actively controlling household electricity usage.
It continuously measures:
      • Energy production
      • Household consumption
      • Grid import/export
      • Battery usage (if present)
It then decides in real time whether to activate devices (because extra solar power is available) or pause them (because you are starting to draw power from the grid).
It can control:
      • Hot water tanks
      • Electric boilers and radiators
      • EV chargers
      • Heating and cooling systems
      • Washing machines, dryers, dishwashers
      • Pool heating/filter pumps
      • Fuel pumps and many other electrical loads
Devices can also be designated as monitored only, ensuring SWOpti never interferes with sensitive appliances, such as an oven.

What is in store for SWOpti?

At present SWOpti is currently being used across Europe, mainly in France, growing primarily through word of mouth rather than large-scale advertising. However, development continues, and is driven by real user feedback. Jean-Jacques, in the same vein as his initial home automation development, is always increasing features to match new needs as they arise.
The most recent innovation added to SWOpti is “multiple power level” appliance management, developed in partnership with LOWTECH and its electric boiler brand Thermogroup (based in Strasbourg, France). This allows intelligent rotation of heating elements in electric boilers, improving efficiency and extending equipment lifespan. If SWOpti is already managing an EV charger, and your charger supports multiple power levels, SWOpti can now use the new feature with your charger to fully exploit solar production, as it varies, in real time. In the near future a major interface redesign is planned to improve ease of use while keeping the system fully automated. After that, a new notification system will be deployed that will allow users to define conditions and receive alerts via email, SMS, voice, or HomeSeer’s whole-home audio system.
As a company SWOpti aims to grow across both Europe and the United States, with a strong focus on awareness. The U.S. version is designed for DIY users, especially HomeSeer enthusiasts, who can install and configure the system themselves using compatible modules. Thanks to a “bridge” plugin, Home Assistant enthusiasts can now also benefit from SWOpti.

Where to learn more

SWOpti
Jean-Jacques personally manages development, support, and communication. Social media updates are published when meaningful developments or demonstrations are available, rather than on a fixed schedule.
To learn more or to get a SWOpti system of your own, go to www.swopti.fr
For any questions or inquiries please reach out to contact@swopti.fr
Support is available in English and French, and phone consultations can be arranged on request.
Social presence:
      • X
      • Bluesky
      • Youtube
LOWTECH and Thermogroup
For more information on multi power level boilers, go to www.thermogroup.com or contact them at contact@thermogroup.com.

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24/09/2025

5.5% VAT in France on solar panels: what you need to know

On September 9, 2025, a new decree was published: solar panels can now benefit from a reduced VAT rate of 5.5% in France, subject to certain conditions.

What are the conditions for benefiting from this reduced VAT?  Three criteria must be met:

1. "Cleaner" panels  The panels must meet specific environmental thresholds, particularly regarding their carbon footprint and the quantities of heavy metals such as cadmium, lead or silver.

2. Mandatory smart management software  It's no longer enough to just generate electricity: you also need to use it intelligently. Panels must be paired with software capable of managing your electrical appliances in real time based on your production and consumption. Simple monitoring tools or systems controlled remotely via the Cloud are not enough.

3. Professional installation  The hardware (panels + software) must be installed by a professional. They do not need to be "RGE" certified, but it is the professional who must carry out the installation.

What SWOpti thinks about this new measure

The idea of ​​encouraging smarter use of solar energy is a good one. But there are a few issues:
• More expensive panels for the customer   Manufacturers will likely raise their prices, saying they need to adapt their factories to meet the new standards. However, since installers need these panels to be able to apply the 5.5% VAT rate, they don't really have a choice. As a result: the customer pays a reduced rate, but on a higher base price. Sometimes it would even be cheaper to buy traditional panels with 20% VAT.
• Plug-and-Play systems are excluded   These very affordable solar kits are designed for self-installation. You can now use several together, as SWOpti ensures that you stay within the feed-in limits imposed by ENEDIS (the French grid manager). However, since the installation is not carried out by a professional, they are not eligible for the reduced VAT rate. The government seems to have little confidence in individuals installing their panels correctly.
• Risk of low-end software   To meet the reduced VAT conditions without excessively increasing the price for the customer due to the "higher standard" panels, some installers might be tempted to provide low-performing software just to "tick the box". However, it is this intelligent management software that allows you to make real savings on your bills, several hundred euros per year and sometimes even more than a thousand euros.
In conclusion
• If you already have panels: add high-performance software like SWOpti to optimize your production and reduce your bill.
• If you don't have any panels yet:
   • Either you go through an installer, but insist on powerful software like SWOpti ;
   • Or you can choose more economical Plug-and-Play kits, which you install yourself — with a SWOpti to control them efficiently.

16/06/2025

Yet another article on SWOpti in Ouest-France and Le Publicateur Libre!

By popular demand, SWOpti now sells Plug-and-Play panels. Combined with the SWOpti software and the MNR batteries as an option, there has never been a better time to switch to solar. A few errors have crept into the articles published in Ouest-France and Le Publicateur Libre, but you can read these articles HERE. For the transcription (easier to read) of the interview, click HERE.

16/06/2025

SWOpti was interviewed by Ouest-France and Le Publicateur Libre on the new law in France concerning solar panels

SWOpti has given its stance on the new law that lowers the VAT rate to 5.5 % on solar panel installations. A few errors have crept into the articles published in Ouest-France and Le Publicateur Libre, but you can read these articles HERE. Click HERE for the transcript of the interview (easier to read).

14/04/2025

A lot of good news!

Several major announcements
Since 2023, SWOpti software has allowed you to maximise the self-consumption of your solar/wind installation. We are constantly asked, "Does SWOpti sell solar panels? Do you have any recommendations?" and since 2023, we have been insisting that SWOpti is software and that we do not sell solar panels. But that's over:

Good news #1

SWOpti is constantly looking for ways to save even more money and make the most of available technologies. Following the development of MNR (a much cheaper solution than solar batteries, see HERE), these past few months SWOpti has been focusing on "plug-and-play" panels. Sometimes referred to as "solar stations," these are a relatively small number of solar panels that are installed on the ground (on a terrace, in the garden), on a wall, or on a flat roof. These panels come with a plug that plugs into a standard electrical outlet like any other type of appliance. The electricity produced is consumed by your home, and the surplus is sent free of charge to the grid (you are not paid for this production). PnP panels are inexpensive, you can easily unplug them and change their location in your home, and you can purchase more of them as your budget allows. But there's a catch. Since the grid can't absorb all the excess production from solar panels, your electricity distribution manager is forced to impose an injection limit on you. In France, the limit is usually 6,000 watts. What if you have 9,000 watts of panels (three sets of 3,000 watts each) and they're producing 9,000 watts, but your house is only using 2,000 of those 9,000 watts? You're sending the 7,000 watts of excess production to the grid, and you're not in compliance with your electricity distribution manager. It's a shame, because at other times of the day your consumption is higher, and you really need those 9,000 watts. Should you give up on having more panels? Of course not...

Good news #2: SWOpti has found the solution!

As SWOpti measures all your production and consumption flows and what you send to the network and what you receive from the network (measurements taken every 5 seconds), it will see that you are sending 1000 watts too much to the network. SWOpti will cut off one of the sets of your PnP panels. Your injection will drop to 4000 watts and you will be in compliance with your electricity distribution manager. Conversely, if your consumption increases, causing your injection to fall below 3000 watts, SWOpti will start up this set of panels because we have enough to "absorb" this electricity in the house. You can therefore benefit from a large number of panels while respecting your injection limit! To ensure that as many homes and businesses as possible can benefit from this new SWOpti feature, SWOpti has partnered with Sunethic. You can now purchase panels from SWOpti with a 5% discount.

Good news #3: This discount can be increased to 10%!

Ask your town hall or works council to organise a group purchase with SWOpti.

Good news #4

If you purchase panels (either because you don't have any or because you already have panels but want additional panels) and you don't have SWOpti, there is a €50 discount on the SWOpti price. This applies to individual or group purchases.

Good news #5

The partnership with APS is complete. SWOpti can provide you with inverters (batteries for an MNR for use with SWOpti) with discounts between 15 and 20%.

11/04/2025

Our website has a new look!

As part of the expansion of the SWOpti offering, the website has been completely revamped. The site's theme is based on all three offerings (Plug-and-Play panels, SWOpti software, and MNRs). It's more modern and responsive, meaning it's more pleasant to view on tablets and mobile devices, whether in portrait or landscape mode.

14/03/2025

Version 2.4 is deployed.

Version 2.4 is deployed with its new features:
• when exiting the "Assured operating time" mode (the appliance has just finished operating for the programmed number of minutes), you can now tell SWOpti what to do:
    - switch to "Normal" mode, which allows the appliance to continue operating if your solar production allows it
    - set the "Timed Force Off" mode for the time you choose to let other appliances "enjoy" the sun
    - set up a "Force Off" that will be in effect until the next sunrise
• You can set an "injection limit" allowing you to have as many Plug-and-Play panels as you want, as SWOpti will take care of turning off the necessary panels when you start to exceed your injection limit. This allows you to remain compliant with your electricity distribution manager.
• the temperature setpoint screen displays the setpoint for the current day/time in a different color

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20/11/2024

Version 2.35 is deployed.

Version 2.35 is deployed with its new features:
• "future appliances" are no longer displayed on the control screen
• French EDF Tempo subscribers can now choose which appliances will be managed in Tempo Red "preparation/prohibition"
• the setpoint temperature screen now displays the humidity level in each room if your temperature sensor provides it
• to avoid confusion, the departure time (reserved for the "Deferred Timed Force On" mode) is no longer displayed when the "Assured Operating Time" mode is active

25/10/2024

What is SWOpti's MNR?

An alternative to solar batteries, which are still very expensive... the Mini Night Reserve!
Click HERE to read the full article.

05/07/2024

NodOn has become our partner!

French home automation component manufacturer NodOn has become our partner. NodOn supplies the modules that enable SWOpti to communicate with your appliances. As part of this partnership, the full range of Zigbee modules is now available for sale at a discounted price in the SWOpti store. Just click HERE. This is useful when you already have a SWOpti and want to add appliances to your system, or if you want to build your SWOpti yourself.

03/07/2024

Version 2.2 is deployed.

Version 2.2 is deployed with
• the concept of "consumption tolerance"
• the ability to rename an appliance

28/06/2024

Version 2.1 is deployed.

Version 2.1 was released on 06/28/2024 with
• its management of priorities
• the new "Guaranteed Operating Time" mode. This mode runs your pool filtration system for 5 hours a day for example, but only at times of the day when electricity is free. A "Timed Force On" will automatically be started at sunset to "catch up" on any minutes missed during the day. If you have off-peak hours, the "catching up" will be done during the next off-peak rate period.