So now I have a solar PV system how do I make the most of it???

Doc_N

KevinG said:

orrery said:

KevinG said:

orrery said:I think that trying to add an export tariff would mean I'd have to terminate my FIT contract which would cost me very dearly

It doesn't, I have done exactly that and my 70p+ feed-in tariff continues.

Interesting. Presumably without the assumed export payment?

Yes, it was a bit of a palaver, took several months with Octopus but got there in the end. Too early to tell whether I will actually benefit from it.

Several months......you and me both!  Octopus seems utterly incapable of handling its FiT tariffs properly. Guy I know gave up after several months and went elsewhere. I've had to use the formal complaints mechanism.  They're very good at promises - not so good at delivering them.  Sounds like the last few governments since 2010!

andyg9053

6 kw panels, ev and pw2. I went onto flux this time last year when Seg was 5p, this year I’m on IO with 15p export. I will be staying on IO, I don’t think the difference for me will be much so not worth changing

EcoScruples

Lots of focus on money value in this thread but if you want to be more environmental (you'll still get payback) then top up your battery overnight when the grid is cleanest and the gas/wood pellet stations are barely ticking over. Then get exporting as early as possible to support the grid when demand is increased.

My losses when filling up from the grid (DC coupled) are <10% or around 1.2p per kw but I make up for this with more export and knowing I'll avoid paying 25ppkw during the day time even if it's dull.

thriftytracey

I'm going to ask a numpty question.

What is the order of the SP generation and how it is used?  Is it:-

1.  Whatever needs electricity in the house uses the SP directly
2,  Then it tops up the battery
3.   Then anything left over is exported to the grid

Also, we are going away for 6 weeks so the house will just be ticking over in terms of electricity use.  We currently have the battery drawing power from the grid during 2.00am - 5.00am.  Should I turn that off while away?  Or, if the battery is still full from a good day, and there has been a low consumption it won't need to top up?

On a good day currently we are getting 39 kWh from solar.

orrery

thriftytracey said:

...

What is the order of the SP generation and how it is used?  Is it:-

1.  Whatever needs electricity in the house uses the SP directly
2,  Then it tops up the battery
3.   Then anything left over is exported to the grid

Also, we are going away for 6 weeks so the house will just be ticking over in terms of electricity use.  We currently have the battery drawing power from the grid during 2.00am - 5.00am.  Should I turn that off while away?  Or, if the battery is still full from a good day, and there has been a low consumption it won't need to top up?

On a good day currently we are getting 39 kWh from solar.

Yes, pretty much. The solar should feed straight into your fuse box and anything in the house will use it first. Any excess will be exported and a sensor should detect export and start to charge the battery with it, reducing the export to zero. When the battery is full, all the surplus will be exported.

Yes, turn off the a.c. charge if you are going away, and look to see if you can turn it off when you are at home at this time of year. When you do need the a.c. overnight charge turned on, you should be able to set a % charge which you can vary on the time of year. In winter, you may need a high level of a.c. charge to get you through the next day, in spring and autumn you should be able to set a lower level.

Of course, this all assumes that you can get through the day on your battery depending on the size. You should have an app that can monitor it.

Exiled_Tyke

thriftytracey said:

I'm going to ask a numpty question.

What is the order of the SP generation and how it is used?  Is it:-

1.  Whatever needs electricity in the house uses the SP directly
2,  Then it tops up the battery
3.   Then anything left over is exported to the grid

Also, we are going away for 6 weeks so the house will just be ticking over in terms of electricity use.  We currently have the battery drawing power from the grid during 2.00am - 5.00am.  Should I turn that off while away?  Or, if the battery is still full from a good day, and there has been a low consumption it won't need to top up?

On a good day currently we are getting 39 kWh from solar.

Although it is best to stop the battery charging overnight when away in Summer, I find that my baseload draws less than 1kWh a day from the battery between night fall and recharge time. That (plus the grid covering the baseload while the battery charges) costs me so little that I prefer to keep it switched on. It's very easy for me to return from a trip to forget to reset the forced battery charging and then end up paying for a full units at full price by accident. So for me for the sake of around a quid a week I just let it continue to do its thing. 

KevinG

KevinG said:

orrery said:

KevinG said:

orrery said:I think that trying to add an export tariff would mean I'd have to terminate my FIT contract which would cost me very dearly

It doesn't, I have done exactly that and my 70p+ feed-in tariff continues.

Interesting. Presumably without the assumed export payment?

The assumed 50% export payment is replaced by an actual %, but at a rate of 15p per kWh.

My rate is rarely that high, apart from at times when I hardly generate anything (1600-1900).

I've now changed to the 15p fixed export rate, which will pay me much more than the Agile Outgoing rate. Combined with the Agile import tariff, on which I am often paying less than 15p per kWh, my bill over the summer is likely to be minimal and with the 70p+ per kWh FiT on top I'm laughing

Doc_N

KevinG said:

KevinG said:

orrery said:

KevinG said:

orrery said:I think that trying to add an export tariff would mean I'd have to terminate my FIT contract which would cost me very dearly

It doesn't, I have done exactly that and my 70p+ feed-in tariff continues.

Interesting. Presumably without the assumed export payment?

The assumed 50% export payment is replaced by an actual %, but at a rate of 15p per kWh.

My rate is rarely that high, apart from at times when I hardly generate anything (1600-1900).

I've now changed to the 15p fixed export rate, which will pay me much more than the Agile Outgoing rate. Combined with the Agile import tariff, on which I am often paying less than 15p per kWh, my bill over the summer is likely to be minimal and with the 70p+ per kWh FiT on top I'm laughing

I’d be interested in your experience of switching to this tariff, having now been corresponding for almost a year with Octopus, including through formal complaints resolution, to get this sorted out. I do know that this is by no means unusual.

KevinG

Doc_N said:

KevinG said:

KevinG said:

orrery said:

KevinG said:

orrery said:I think that trying to add an export tariff would mean I'd have to terminate my FIT contract which would cost me very dearly

It doesn't, I have done exactly that and my 70p+ feed-in tariff continues.

Interesting. Presumably without the assumed export payment?

The assumed 50% export payment is replaced by an actual %, but at a rate of 15p per kWh.

My rate is rarely that high, apart from at times when I hardly generate anything (1600-1900).

I've now changed to the 15p fixed export rate, which will pay me much more than the Agile Outgoing rate. Combined with the Agile import tariff, on which I am often paying less than 15p per kWh, my bill over the summer is likely to be minimal and with the 70p+ per kWh FiT on top I'm laughing

I’d be interested in your experience of switching to this tariff, having now been corresponding for almost a year with Octopus, including through formal complaints resolution, to get this sorted out. I do know that this is by no means unusual.

As I said before, it did take a few months of email exchanges to initially get onto the outgoing tariff but the latest change was achieved in a couple of days through Twitter/X, on which they are generally very responsive.

Doc_N

KevinG said:

Doc_N said:

KevinG said:

KevinG said:

orrery said:

KevinG said:

orrery said:I think that trying to add an export tariff would mean I'd have to terminate my FIT contract which would cost me very dearly

It doesn't, I have done exactly that and my 70p+ feed-in tariff continues.

Interesting. Presumably without the assumed export payment?

The assumed 50% export payment is replaced by an actual %, but at a rate of 15p per kWh.

My rate is rarely that high, apart from at times when I hardly generate anything (1600-1900).

I've now changed to the 15p fixed export rate, which will pay me much more than the Agile Outgoing rate. Combined with the Agile import tariff, on which I am often paying less than 15p per kWh, my bill over the summer is likely to be minimal and with the 70p+ per kWh FiT on top I'm laughing

I’d be interested in your experience of switching to this tariff, having now been corresponding for almost a year with Octopus, including through formal complaints resolution, to get this sorted out. I do know that this is by no means unusual.

As I said before, it did take a few months of email exchanges to initially get onto the outgoing tariff but the latest change was achieved in a couple of days through Twitter/X, on which they are generally very responsive.

My experience was much like yours. Up to that point. The difference between changing the tariff and actually putting that into practical effect only appeared later, when they continued to pay at the old rate and seemed incapable of doing anything else.