Large system and FIT payments.

Versatile

Hi Everyone, This is my first post here and you're going to love it. ( Maybe )

I live on a farm with my Brother and Mother and we had some solar panels fitted 2 years ago. There were 2 systems, both equal 3.6Kw and everything works well. One system was plugged in to the farm house and the other system was plugged into the farm buildings. 2 individual meters and 2 Mpan numbers.

Since we now want to develope some other buildings we needed a bigger transformer so we decided to get 3 phase into the workshop at the same time.

We now have one Mpan number on a 3 phase meter. The solar systems are plugged into the mains on our side of the meter on separate phases.

The buildings meter was supplied by N Power and we decided to go with them for our electrical supply mainly because they were very helpful and offered us a good deal.

The farm house meter was supplied by British Gas and they weren't helpful and caused us a lot of hassle and expense.

We told British Gas, through several letters, that we didn't want their services anymore and they came and removed the meter 3 months after we switched to 3 phase. Their meter was by passed as we weren't going to pay twice for the same electricity.

Last month British Gas sent us a cheque for a significant amount. We haven't put it into the farm account yet because I think they will want it back. My Brother and Mother want to spend it because British Gas cost us a lot.

Also if we change to a commercial contract with N Power we won't get such a large FIT payment.

Can we just declare the one system and take the larger amount of FIT and forget about the other system ?

Told you it was a doosey.

I look forward to the forum knowledge and will take any stick with good grace ( ex R.N. stoker )

EricMears

Surely the two (separate) FIT contracts - presumably each with its own total generation meter - should continue for the next 23 years.

How you buy your imported electricity should be a completely separate subject. I don't see it as being any different to an 'ordinary consumer' having both import & export accounts with (say) British Gas and deciding to switch his import contract to (say) Scottish Power.

Versatile

So the Import contract is nothing to do with the Export contract ?

This makes me happy !

EricMears

Versatile wrote: »

So the Import contract is nothing to do with the Export contract ?

This makes me happy !

Only my opinion ! But I'd be very surprised if anyone disagrees.

Versatile

I'll let you know how I get on.

( and I got you further over 1000 ) :beer:

rogerblack

As I understand it, what you propose is quite impossible.
Firstly, if you combine the systems, then you are making a new installation - the new installation would require a new FIT application, and the rates as of now would apply. These are likely considerably less.
Secondly, the larger system capacity would mean a lower FIT rate.
Thirdly, the presence of 'second hand' components recycled from another installation mean you cannot get FITs for the combined system.

EricMears

rogerblack wrote: »

As I understand it, what you propose is quite impossible.
Firstly, if you combine the systems, then you are making a new installation - the new installation would require a new FIT application, and the rates as of now would apply. These are likely considerably less.
Secondly, the larger system capacity would mean a lower FIT rate.
Thirdly, the presence of 'second hand' components recycled from another installation mean you cannot get FITs for the combined system.

I can appreciate Roger's points - and I'd fall a long way short of saying he was wrong. The situation is way out of my comfort zone.

However, I remember seeing a query of these pages from somebody who had their power supply from a Ministry of Defence transformer (and at a far lower rate than most commercial supppliers offered). There wasn't any problem with them having FIT payments; the query was about the deemed export payments.

Arguably, all that's happened here is that the farmhouse has switched from buying electricity from a 'normal' supplier to having it supplied at a lower rate ('free' is indeed a lower rate) from an employer. I really don't see that as a situation that ought to cancel an existing FIT contract.

And all that's happened at the farm itself is that they've uprated their supply contract from single phase to three phase. Is that really a valid ground to cancel an existing FIT contract ?

In each case the existing SP installation has remained exactly as originally fitted and (hopefully) the two separate generation meters are still being read independently.

Where I do see some difficulties is with the farm's three phase supply metering. With solar power being uploaded on two of the phases but not the third that's going to give them a very unbalanced connection. That should distort the power factor dreadfully and almost certainly increase bills. Almost worth fitting a new SP installation on the unused phase and registering it for new FITs (at current rates of course) just to keep the PF sensible. (From Mrtyn's experience, that wouldn't seem likely to have any effect on the old FIT contracts either)

And I really think these points should have been considered before any changes to supply contracts were made.

Alas, I'm not an expert on the legal technicalities - just offering a commonsense viewpoint - and it wouldn't surprise me in the least to learn that commonsense doesn't figure in the electrical contracts world !

Be nice to have a few more comments added to this thread, It is after all about a current moneysaving project rather than wishful thinking on changing government policy.

rogerblack

EricMears wrote: »

I can appreciate Roger's points - and I'd fall a long way short of saying he was wrong. The situation is way out of my comfort zone.

I'm solely addressing the issue of combining existing installations into one.
I don't believe the supply changes make any difference to the existing installations, though agree checking this is a good idea.

EricMears

rogerblack wrote: »

I'm solely addressing the issue of combining existing installations into one.
I don't believe the supply changes make any difference to the existing installations, though agree checking this is a good idea.

I didn't think combining the two FIT contracts was the intention - although agree OP wasn't too clear on the point and was giving impression that they might have thought they'd need to.