Micro Generation Advice

clive.monks

Hi All

Any ideas which electricity company could offer the best deal to buy back surplus energy from my solar pv installation? Martin seems to have over looked this soon to be popular way of saving money.
Clive:D

greenbee

Try Good Energy, they're a microgeneration specialist

http://www.good-energy.co.uk/

Cardew

I suspect the reason Martin has overlooked solar electricity generation is that this is a Money Saving Website.

At the moment it is an absolute joke in money saving terms.

If the 'promised' breakthrough in cheap thin film photovoltaics does come to fruition in the next decade or so, and China start manufacturing them, they will be very useful for airconditioning in Arizona!

What a company might offer now for buying back energy, will probably not be applicable if ever cheap solar cells become available.

spiro

Please bear in mind that you must advise your supplier and your electricity distributor that you are installing micro generation. They may then need to change you meter to either (a) stop backward running or (b) measure export. You may get charged for this. As previous mentioned most of these tend to produce little if any surplus plus the payback on the initial cost is many years. You probably get a better return investing the money in a high rate saving account.

owain.davies

You have a couple of options, which is either the export, for which an export meter will be required, which is often chargable (around £80) and you can then sell back at the prevailing rate.

The other option is a power purchase agreement linked to your ROC. Assuming your microgen has an OFGEM approved generation meter (and it should) you can 'sell' every unit of electricity you produce for about 5p, regardless of whether you use it or not. This is generally a much better option financially for owners of small sale generation. In return, you must sign over your renewable obligation certificates to the supplier, which count towards the government target they must reach.

In either case, i'm afraid you're looking at a payback of 10, maybe even 20 years, but good on you for trying to make a difference!

spiro

owain.davies wrote: »

You have a couple of options, which is either the export, for which an export meter will be required, which is often chargable (around £80) and you can then sell back at the prevailing rate.

The other option is a power purchase agreement linked to your ROC. Assuming your microgen has an OFGEM approved generation meter (and it should) you can 'sell' every unit of electricity you produce for about 5p, regardless of whether you use it or not. This is generally a much better option financially for owners of small sale generation. In return, you must sign over your renewable obligation certificates to the supplier, which count towards the government target they must reach.

In either case, i'm afraid you're looking at a payback of 10, maybe even 20 years, but good on you for trying to make a difference!

Both of these options require a suitable meter to be installed which will be chargeable. This is to stop backward running.