To delete a trade, first navigate to the My Trades tab. (Last icon on the right in your My Energy screen). Adjust the dates to the future period where you expect to find your trades. Click the right-arrow next to any trade to drill down. Click the next arrow to drill down again. You will find the Cancel button on the bottom of the final screen.
The Localvolts app allows you to create buy and sell orders based on an estimation of what you will export and what you will consume. These estimates are based on your calculated profile, which updates based on your import/export behaviour.
When you create a sell offer, there is an estimated value for the electricity that will be available for that trade, and that is your limit for the offer. If you export more that the estimated amount, it will be traded, either on the spot market at the real wholesale price, or with available and compatible peer-to-peer orders.
The same goes for your imports when you are placing a buy order.
Those trades are adjusted when the real data comes in from your meter, which is usually about midday on the following day.
So, actual numbers are estimates, but if you have a smart meter then everything older that 24 hours should be an accurate number.
Yes, you can make targeted offers to buy and sell energy across state boundaries. The relevant properties must be registered with Localvolts.
If you sell your energy at a positive price, cash will flow from the consuming site to the producing property.
If you sell your energy at zero price, no cash will flow between the consuming and producing properties.
If you sell your energy at negative price, cash will flow from the producing site to the consuming property.
Localvolts does not provide a battery control app, however many of our customers use the API data feed as input to their self-built controllers, or those provided by third party suppliers. We provide private API tokens to our customers. If you are looking for help, we suggest contacting one of our partners.
Energy prices can be both positive and negative – this is normal in electricity markets. When prices are negative, you earn a credit for consuming energy and incur a cost for exporting energy. Wholesale prices can be negative during periods of low demand and high production.
You can set up an auto-renewal process where the system continues to place buy and sell orders on your behalf without any further action required. You only need to go through the process once to set up your preferences with auto-renewals enabled. (We suggest that you set your auto renewals to a short-ish time frame, e.g. one week, so you can easily make changes).
If you are buying and selling directly from the wholesale market, then you do not need to do anything. Our system will default to the real wholesale price if no trades are set.
Yes. We allow you to trade between sites, or offset costs from one against the other via the marketplace.
Wholesale prices in the National Electricity Market are set every five minutes by AEMO’s dispatch process. Generators submit bids across price bands; AEMO stacks them from cheapest to most expensive and dispatches just enough to meet forecast demand and system constraints. The marginal accepted offer sets the 5‑minute Regional Reference Price for each region. Interconnector limits, losses, and binding constraints can cause regional price separation and more complex “blended” price setting. Safeguards like the market price cap/floor and administered pricing can temporarily cap or floor prices when the cumulative price threshold is exceeded.
To buy and sell between two properties (facilities) there are certain criteria that need to be met.
- Both facilities need to be registered in the Localvolts marketplace.
- One facility needs to export electricity at the same time the other is importing. (Same 5 minute period)
If these criteria are met, and both properties are in the same state, then you will already effectively be offsetting the costs of one facility against the earnings from the other. I.e. if you are using the default settings and trading at the spot price, one facility will earn at the same rate that the other facility is paying.
If you are trying to provide a benefit for one property, e.g. giving electricity away to a family member for free, then both facilities need to set up a trade.
The generating facility needs to create a sell offer, and identify the second facility as the recipient in the “Select my target customer” field.
The receiving facility needs to send a buy order, and identify the generating facility in the “Who do I want to buy from?” field.
Energy prices on the Localvolts marketplace are determined in several ways. In peer-to-peer trading, you set your own buy and sell prices, giving you complete control over what you pay and what you charge for energy. When marketplace participants can’t find matches for their preferred prices, energy is automatically traded at wholesale spot market prices, which are set by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) every 5 minutes based on supply and demand. The system finds the cheapest available energy for each 5-minute period while respecting your price preferences. Energy prices can even be negative during periods of low demand and high renewable generation, which is a normal feature of the electricity market.
No, you cannot eliminate your entire bill by setting equal buy and sell rates. While the energy trading portion might balance out at zero if you buy and sell the same amount at the same price, your Localvolts invoice includes other mandatory costs that cannot be avoided, such as grid charges, metering fees, renewable energy certificates, and Localvolts’ service fees. These network and regulatory charges are passed through regardless of your energy trading activity,
If your chosen energy supplier on the marketplace can’t deliver the energy you need, Localvolts automatically sources the shortfall from the wholesale spot market operated by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), ensuring you always have a reliable electricity supply even when your preferred suppliers experience shortfalls.
Yes. We serve small business customers in the ACT, NSW, QLD, SA and TAS under our Market Retail Contract, giving your business access to the Localvolts marketplace (you control buy/sell preferences and prices; energy is passed through at wholesale spot). To onboard, please contact us for business registration. Some business customers may need credit support arrangements and may attract additional fees; we’ll confirm requirements during setup.
Peer-to-peer energy trading on the Localvolts marketplace provides several key benefits: You gain complete control over your energy consumption and production by setting your own buy and sell prices instead of accepting fixed utility tariffs. The transparent marketplace shows real-time data on renewable generation sources and provides accurate emissions tracking, creating trust and accountability in every transaction. You can trade energy directly with friends, family, or community members, fostering local energy relationships. Financially, solar owners can realise better returns by selling surplus electricity at competitive prices, whilst buyers can access cheaper renewable energy options. The decentralised model also creates a more resilient and flexible electricity grid that’s less susceptible to disruptions, whilst empowering individuals to actively participate in the clean energy transition and support Australian renewable energy generators.
Through the Localvolts marketplace, you can buy excess solar energy directly from your neighbors and sell your surplus solar generation to other local customers, creating a community energy network that bypasses traditional retailers.
If you have solar panels or other renewable energy generation, you can sell your excess energy through the Localvolts marketplace by setting your own prices and choosing who to sell to – whether that’s specific customers, anyone on the marketplace, or directly to the wholesale market. For step-by-step instructions on setting up your energy offers, check our detailed tutorial at https://localvolts.com/trade-electricity/selling-electricity/
Yes, you have complete control over your buy and sell rates on the Localvolts marketplace .localvoltslocalvolts You can set your own sale prices for excess energy you generate and set price caps for energy purchases .localvoltslocalvolts This means you decide what you’re willing to pay for electricity and what you want to charge for your solar exports, rather than accepting fixed rates from traditional retailers .localvolts
To access the Localvolts marketplace, you need to register for an account through our website. Once registered, you can start buying and selling energy with other local customers or directly with the wholesale market.
Using your historical energy data, Localvolts builds a consumption profile that forecasts how much energy you’ll typically use and generate, allowing the system to predict how much excess energy you’ll have available to sell during different periods.
Once registered on the Localvolts marketplace, you can set your buying preferences to purchase energy from generators instead of from the wholesale market. For detailed instructions, check out our tutorial at https://localvolts.com/trade-electricity/buying-electricity/
Import readings measure electricity you consume from the grid, while export readings measure electricity you send back to the grid (typically from solar panels). You need a meter that can record both imports and exports if you want to sell electricity.
First, you and your family members and friends must be registered with Localvolts. Then you create special targeted offers for them.
Yes, you can trade energy directly with yourself, friends, family, or anyone in the marketplace. You can set up specific trading relationships at agreed prices.
Peak and off‑peak are time‑of‑use windows set by distributors/retailers. “Peak” is the higher‑priced period when network demand is highest (typically late afternoon/evening); “off‑peak” is the lower‑priced period outside that, often overnight and on weekends. Exact hours vary by distributor, retailer, plan, and season.
Note: Localvolts is a marketplace, so we don’t set peak/off‑peak energy prices. However, your network tariff may still have peak/off‑peak charges for the poles-and-wires component, so check the time windows that apply to your meter.
Rates can spike because the wholesale market price moves every 5 minutes. Extreme weather (heat/cold), sudden demand surges, generator outages, fuel cost jumps, network or interconnector constraints, or drops in wind/solar can all tighten supply and push prices up.
On the Localvolts platform, rather than traditional time-of-use rates with fixed peak and off-peak periods, we use real-time 5-minute pricing that reflects actual market conditions. This means electricity prices change every 5 minutes based on supply and demand, giving you much more granular pricing than conventional time-of-use tariffs. You can see live pricing data and choose when to buy or sell energy based on these real-time market signals. This dynamic pricing model often provides better value than fixed time-of-use rates because you’re responding to actual market conditions rather than predetermined time periods.
Yes, you can sell directly to other Localvolts customers through the peer-to-peer marketplace, to friends and family at agreed prices, or to any buyer in the marketplace at prices you set.
All exported energy in excess of your original matched quantity is sold into the wholesale spot energy market operated by the Australian Energy Market Operator.
If you exported less energy than originally agreed, then you will receive payment for the actual (reduced) quantity of energy at the agreed matched price.
If you export more than anticipated, the excess is sold into the wholesale spot market. If you export less, the shortfall is covered by wholesale market purchases.
We encourage you to go through the buy (or sell) process at least once to set up your preferences with auto-renewals. With auto-renewals enabled, the system will continue to buy (or sell) on your behalf without any further action required from you. Naturally, you can stop or modify your preference set up at any time.
To view your energy usage in the Localvolts app, log into your marketplace account and navigate to the “Cashflow Breakdown” section. Here you’ll find comprehensive information about your energy consumption, generation, sales, and purchases, with detailed data about your energy usage patterns and trading activity displayed in real-time.
Localvolts does not provide direct control of your energy systems through the app. However, we offer a free API that provides real-time market and customer-specific data which can be used to control your smart devices and energy systems. Many customers use our API data feed as input to their self-built controllers or third-party automation systems to optimise their solar panels, batteries, and other energy devices based on live marketplace prices.
Yes, you can make targeted offers to buy and sell energy across state boundaries. The relevant properties must be registered with Localvolts. If you sell your energy at a positive price, cash flows from the consuming site to the producing property. If you sell your energy at zero price, no cash flows between the properties. If you sell your energy at negative price, cash flows from the producing site to the consuming property.