Solar pv price for installation

Cardew

noncom wrote: »

If the house in question "buys" 3000kWh from an energy company, but exports 2500kWh all that is effectively happening is that "the house" has become one of the Generators that the energy company pays to make electricity.

Surely you can see that the supplying energy company gets no financial return from the exported 2,500kWh.

They have bought(from their generator) and supplied you with 3,000kWh and will only be paid for 500kWh.

noncom_2

Maybe I'm being thick here, but I don't get it.....

My energy supplier buys a huge amount of electricity from a Generator who feeds it into the Grid for them. They then sell on that electricity to me, and I get it direct from the Grid.

The amount that the company will buy on the wholesale market is based on an estimate of what their total user base will consume from the Grid. The amount actually consumed is then measured retrospectively and the estimate of how much to buy next time is adjusted. (Unless I completely misunderstand how the wholesale electricity market works....)

So, (again hypothetically, because I don't have any Solar Panels yet, and when I do, my meter doesn't work this way anyway!) I consume 3000kWh from the Grid, and I feed back 2500 to the Grid. My net consumption of power from "somewhere else" is 500kWh. My energy company may well have estimated that I will consume 3000kWh and accordingly bought that from their Generator on my behalf. No matter, when they see my meter show that I have actually only taken out 500kWh from the Grid overall, they will buy less for me next time.

Who loses out here? To suggest that the energy company loses out because I have consumed 3000kWh from the Grid (which they bought on my behalf) and then put most of it back again seems bizarre. They lose out in exactly the same way if I go away for 9 months and switch all the lights off in the house so my consumption is much lower than expected.

The upshot is, surely, my house is consuming 3000kWh and 2500kWh of it I made myself. I am merely using the Grid as an enormous battery to store power when I am generating more than I need, and give it back when I am generating less than I need.

Yes, I should pay someone for the service of being connected to the Grid in this way. And I do, it is in the Standing Charge or Tier1 surcharge on my bill.

And yes, if I am gaining from the export in this way, it is wrong to expect any Export Tariff from the FIT system, as I mentioned before. That, to me, seems like the only "unfair advantage" of meters working this way - some people may be getting 3p per unit MORE than they should expect because their meter running backwards has already fully compensated them for the electricity they've made.

Anyway, as I said before, I really AM ducking out of this issue now. I will not take the bait next time! There are more important things to do with my time than discuss something which will never affect me.......

Best Regards
Andy

Cardew

Let us assume that Southern Electricity supply your 3000kWh of electricity, they have to pay the Electricity Generator for that amount of electricity. You would pay them for 500kWh(had you a meter that ran backwards)

All of your argument above is on the assumption that the value of 2,500kWh of electricity you export from your PV panels is somehow 'credited back' to Southern Electricity.

noncom_2

Not taking the bait.......

Cardew

Interesting post today in the Gas and electricity forum about meter running backwards.

The plot thicken's, the BG engineer actually a contractor company called onStream turned up to change the meter today. He opens the meter cupboard and turns to me and says your meter is running backwards. To that I replied yes thats why you are here, we have solar panels which are causing this.

Engineer goes off to his van to call the office !!, after 10 mins he receives a callback. I am then informed their have no meters that will work. If he fits a digital meter it will sense the flow is going backwards and shutdown. I am not sure what will happen next, the engineer will report back to BG that the meter cannot be changed, then I guess I will get a call or letter explaining BG next steps ?

I am confused, as I know from this thread that a SEE engineer fitted a meter that can do the job. So I am now wondering why british gas cannot solve this.

For good measure I have also email and informed the British Gas FITs team of what happened.

Cardew

Interesting video in the below link(taken from the other thread)

http://www.selfsufficientish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=19990

A 4.2kW system fitted last month in the USA cost US$ 32,000(about £21,000) but he gets 50% back in grants but no FIT.

The meter ran backwards, but he can't use the system until a new meter is fitted.

Jon_Tiffany

The electricity company own and are responsible for the meter. They are well aware that some meters may run backwards, I guess its just a case of it being cheaper to ignore the problem than to fit a new meter.

NeverInDebt

:spam: from post 29 Reported

smitchy73

I may be wrong but if you are using the electricity when it is being generated during daylight hours, then this electricity is free, and I believe it is taken from the inverter rather than through your own electricity meter, as I say I could be wrong. If you're not using any or much electricity during the day then any excess not being used will be exported on to the grid and Ofgem pays the money to you in whatever way they do.
I'm interested in the new system, but I think the biggest problem will be the financing of it initially!

noncom_2

You are correct, except that the money is not paid to you by Ofgem, but by your electricity supplier. Also you get paid for all units you generate whether or not you use them, and then there is a small additional payment for what you export.