Frequently asked
Written for engineers evaluating EEBUS for a product, and for the people who have to sign off on the decision.
How does EEBUS work?
EEBUS is a language for energy assets on a local network — not a cloud protocol and not a field bus. It splits cleanly into two layers, which is why the libraries do too.
Getting two devices to trust each other
A device announces itself over mDNS. A second device finds it, opens a WebSocket over TLS, and both sides authenticate with certificates they generated themselves. The user confirms the pairing once — typically by comparing a code shown on both devices — and the relationship persists from then on. Nothing leaves the local network.
Describing what each device is and can do
Once connected, devices exchange a self-description: entities (a charging station, a battery), features (measurement, load control), and the function types each feature supports. A client subscribes to the values it cares about and binds to the ones it wants to write. Because the description is generic, an energy manager can limit a wallbox it has never seen before — provided both implement the same use case.
In practice a use case is the contract that matters. “Limitation of power consumption” defines exactly which values a controllable system must accept and how fast it must react — which is what makes §14a EnWG enforceable across vendors.
What can enbility do?
enbility implements the protocol so that you implement your product. Concretely, the libraries give you:
A working SHIP stack — certificate generation, discovery, connection lifecycle, reconnection and the full pairing state machine.
The SPINE 1.3 data model — typed entities and features rather than hand-rolled JSON, with subscription and binding handled for you.
Ready use cases on both sides — act as the controlling energy manager or as the controlled asset, for EV charging, self-consumption optimisation and power limitation.
Something you can read — when a third-party device misbehaves, you can inspect exactly what your side sent and why.
What it does not do: talk to your inverter over Modbus, run a scheduler, or make policy decisions. Those stay in your product.
Does using enbility make my device certified?
No. EEBUS certification is granted by the EEBUS Initiative for a specific product, and covers more than the protocol stack. enbility can get you to a device that behaves correctly; the qualification and certification process is separate, and several consortium partners support it commercially.
What does it cost, and can I use it commercially?
The libraries are free and published under the MIT licence, which permits use in commercial products as long as the copyright notice is kept. There is no per-device fee and no contract with the consortium. Paid engagements — integration, test-lab access, certification support — run directly with individual partners.
Who decides what goes into the project?
Since December 2025 the six consortium members steward the project jointly. [ERGÄNZEN: Entscheidungsprozess — wer merged, wie werden Releases beschlossen, wie kommt man dazu]
Question not answered here?
Technical questions belong in GitHub Discussions, where the answer helps the next person too.