Skip to content
English
Contact Sign in
  • There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

What do Sanctuary Settings do?

Your Lion Sanctuary system includes a range of settings that help you manage backup power, battery behavior, and grid interaction. This article explains the settings most relevant to homeowners and highlights when additional help from your installer or Lion Energy Support may be needed.

PDF Download Here


Most settings in the web app follow this path:

smart.lionenergy.com > product > settings

Before you change any settings

Keep these basics in mind before making updates:

  • Your Sanctuary must be connected to the internet for online setting changes.
  • Settings changes are handled through the Lion Energy communicator, either a WCM or EMS-C.
  • Sanctuary 2 and Sanctuary 3 use mostly the same settings, but some ranges differ because Sanctuary 3 uses a 12kW inverter and Sanctuary 2 uses an 8kW inverter.
  • Homeowner access is limited to a smaller set of settings. Installers and Lion Energy Support have access to additional configuration options.
Homeowner-accessible settings

These are the main settings available to homeowners and anyone the system has been shared with.

Change Internet

Use this setting to update your Wi-Fi network name or password.

  • This is used when your home Wi-Fi changes or you need to reconnect the system.
  • You will need a laptop with Bluetooth.
  • Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the update.

If your Sanctuary is offline, some settings and remote updates may not work as expected.

Operating Mode

Operating Mode controls how your Lion Sanctuary uses battery power, solar power, and grid power.

Normal Mode

This is the default mode for most homeowners.

  • Designed to minimize power purchased from the grid
  • Uses solar power first when available
  • Uses battery power based on system settings
  • Best choice for most day-to-day operation

Emergency Mode

This mode keeps the battery ready for outages.

  • Keeps the battery full and prepared for backup use
  • Best when outage readiness is your top priority
  • In this mode, solar power is not stored for normal battery use

Battery Sell Mode

This mode prioritizes exporting power back to the grid.

  • Allows battery power to be sold back to the grid down to your reserve percentage
  • After the reserve level is reached, only excess solar can be sold
  • This mode is rarely advantageous for most homeowners

If you use Battery Sell Mode, you may also need to review your Grid Selling and Time of Use settings.

Battery Reserve Percentage

This setting controls the battery level your system aims to keep in reserve.

  • It applies the same reserve percentage across all six Time of Use (TOU) slots
  • Useful if you want one consistent minimum battery reserve throughout the day
  • If you want different reserve levels at different times, update the TOU settings individually in Advanced Settings instead
Advanced settings homeowners may want to understand

Some advanced settings are more technical, but a few are especially helpful for homeowners to understand.

Sync System Date/Time

In most cases, you do not need to manually adjust the time.

  • The EMS-C automatically synchronizes the inverter clock every minute when internet is available
  • If your TOU schedule is not running at the expected times, check the time zone first
  • Accurate time settings are also important for alarm history

Time of Use (TOU)

Time-of-use settings allow your system to behave differently depending on the time of day.

This can be especially useful if your utility charges more during peak hours.

How TOU works

  • TOU uses six time slots
  • Each slot must be sequential
  • Time slots must not overlap
  • The first slot should start at 12:00 AM
  • The last slot should end at 11:59 PM

What each TOU slot can control

Each slot can include settings such as the following:

  • Start time
  • End time
  • Discharge power
  • State of charge target
  • Grid charge
  • Generator charge or sell-first behavior, depending on firmware version

If TOU times overlap or are incomplete, the schedule may not work correctly.

Grid Selling

This setting controls whether excess DC solar power can be sold back to the grid.

  • When enabled, the inverter may export excess DC solar power
  • When disabled, the inverter should avoid selling excess power back to the grid
  • Incorrect CT installation can affect this behavior

If grid export is not behaving as expected, the issue may be related to installation or commissioning rather than your day-to-day settings.

Backup Enable

This setting determines what happens during a grid outage.

  • When enabled, the system can use available solar, battery, and generator power to keep supported loads running
  • When disabled, loads will turn off when the grid goes down

For most backup applications, this setting should remain enabled.

Grid Charging

This controls whether batteries can charge using power from the grid.

  • Useful when you want to recharge batteries even when solar production is low
  • Can support TOU strategies or backup readiness, depending on your setup

Battery Priority

This setting keeps the battery at full charge while the grid is available.

  • Charges and maintains the battery at 100% state of charge
  • Helpful for short-term outage readiness
  • Recommended for short-term use only
  • Lion Energy does not recommend using this mode for more than about one week at a time

Solar Charge Only

This setting limits charging to solar power only.

  • Prevents charging from the grid
  • Prevents charging from the generator
  • Best for homeowners who want the battery charged only by solar production
Which settings should most homeowners use?

For many homes, the most practical starting point is:

  • Operating Mode: Normal Mode
  • Battery Reserve Percentage: Set based on how much backup protection you want
  • Backup Enable: Enabled
  • Time of Use: Enabled only if you want your system to respond to utility peak-rate periods
  • Battery Priority: Use only temporarily when keeping the battery full is especially important
When to contact Lion Energy Support

Contact Lion Energy Support if:

  • Your Sanctuary will not stay connected to Wi-Fi
  • Time of Use schedules are not working even after checking the time zone
  • Grid selling does not behave as expected
  • Your system is not backing up loads during an outage
  • You need to change settings outside normal homeowner access
  • You are unsure whether a setting should be adjusted by you, your installer, or support

Some settings are intended only for installers or Lion Energy Support because they affect commissioning, grid compliance, system protection, or battery communication.

If you want, I can also turn this into a more polished HubSpot-ready article format with:

  • SEO title
  • meta description
  • short summary
  • FAQ section
  • step-by-step headings optimized for your knowledge base editor