Introducing the new Sandbox: enhanced device testing for standout energy apps

Say hello to the new Enode Sandbox – the fastest way to build, test, and refine energy applications.

With Sandbox, real-world devices are replaced by virtual devices that you can control instantly. This eliminates the cost, complexity, and delays of working with physical hardware.

Sandbox gives you access to a wide range of virtual devices and lets you simulate any device state, so you can build with confidence and speed. It means you can build exceptional energy applications, and get them into users’ hands faster.

The challenge of testing with real-world devices

Testing applications for energy devices takes a lot of effort. It’s complex, time-consuming work that can stretch product roadmaps, and delay launches.

Energy applications have to connect to customer hardware – their EVs, home batteries, solar inverters, and so on. But with no standard technical framework, you have to test multiple device types in various states to ensure a smooth user experience.

Getting a big enough sample of brands and models for testing quickly becomes expensive, and leaves app teams with a lot of work on their hands. Sourcing devices is only the first hurdle: then, developers have to depend on the cooperation of device owners, and endure long waiting times for devices to reach the required state.

Take smart charging, for example: to test how an EV responds, you may need to drive it until the battery drains to a specific level, plug it back in, and recharge it—each cycle adding hours or even days to your testing timeline. The time and cost quickly add up, making it hard to scale.

For most teams, this means testing is limited. Those without big testing labs might only be able to test with a couple of employee-owned devices before launching their apps, making issues – and unhappy users – inevitable. It's only after apps have been launched that unexpected edge cases emerge, incurring further development time and putting pressure on customer support teams, too.

Enriched testing drives exceptional user experiences

Sandbox solves these challenges to enable fast, cost-effective, and reliable app development.

It’s essentially a virtual playground for energy apps. By virtualizing the physical world of energy devices, Sandbox minimizes the reliance on real-world testing, transforming how energy applications are built.

Now, you can access any device type or vendor, modify states instantly, and test every edge case with ease. It cuts operational overheads and de-risks product launches, allowing you to launch your product faster.

Those products are better quality, too. Richer testing capabilities let you experiment with interventions in a controlled environment, catching potential capability issues and providing your end-users with a clear way to resolve them.

More reliable applications lead to better end-user experiences, and exceptional products that stand out in the energy market.

Sandbox highlights

Sandbox delivers a world-class developer experience. It builds on Enode’s market-leading platform for energy device connectivity to deliver:

• Test any energy device: Build with EVs, home batteries, solar inverters and more – all in one place.
• Full state control: Modify asset states instantly to simulate real-world conditions.
• Webhook integration: Monitor live updates and changes directly in the Sandbox UI.
• Intervention simulations: Test interventions and their effects on assets in a controlled environment.
• Learn as you build: Embedded API insights and guidance help you test smarter, faster.

Find out how to get started with Sandbox in our developer guide.