electricity fixed rates and solar panels.

Cris1970

Hi,
i have just moved into a house.
My intention is to have solar panels installed.
I have previously had a duel fuel fixed rate with EOn which ended last month. with electricity prices and gas prices going up i feel the need to tie in again to a good fixed rate.
However I can't work out how this would be effected if i get solar panels and feed in tariffs etc.
Any advice would be appreciated.

EricMears

Cris1970 wrote: »

Hi,
i have just moved into a house.
My intention is to have solar panels installed.
I have previously had a duel fuel fixed rate with EOn which ended last month. with electricity prices and gas prices going up i feel the need to tie in again to a good fixed rate.
However I can't work out how this would be effected if i get solar panels and feed in tariffs etc.
Any advice would be appreciated.

FIT rates are completely independent of the price you pay to buy electricity.

You'll always have to buy some - though hopefully a lot less than without SPs - so still need to arrange best price for that. Since some days should be at very low usage it's more important to arrange lowest possible standing charge (or even a no SC tariff if you can find one) and less important what you're paying for daytime units. Opinion is split on E7 - if you can run all the offpeak jobs on free daytime electricity you might decide you don't need it. OTOH you'll probably need to pay for electricity to run washing machine in December so might think it's worth doing that at half price.

thenudeone

FITs are completely separate from your purchased electricity and there is no need to get your FIT payments from the same company as your electricity, nor does your electricity supplier even need to know you have solar panels.

The main benefit of solar panels is the FIT. The savings in electricity usage should be viewed as a bonus if you are able to manage your usage to match the very variable output from panels.

Living_proof

I am in the same situation as Cris1970. I have spent the morning trying to get my head around the possibilities. I work at home and a lot of my background use is routers and computers, etc. which are pretty much on 24/7. I am also around to make sure that white goods are used during the day as much as possible so I think 70% of my usage would be covered by self generated electricity. If by any chance prices are frozen by Red Ed one would be better on a non-fixed tariff. And please, what is E7?

Mabsabrabcab

E7 is Economy 7 which is a tarrif with cheaper electricity at night, enabling people with night storage heaters to charge them up at night for cheaper electric heating during the day. I'm not sure if it would be good with solar panels - that would depend on the actual tarrifs.

Making the best of the electiricty you generate is tricky - I am in nearly all the time but I still struggle to use the generated electricity and not to import, even when it is sunny. Even in the summer it only takes a cloud to appear and your generation drops from 2-3kW to 500W in no time.

Living_proof

Thanks Mabs, of course it is - I am not thinking! I haven't had E7 for donkeys years and it got me into the strict habit of putting on everything at night. Now I will have to change totally to do things when the sun is shining.

With regard to the fixed pricing I have estimated how much energy I will generate and how much of that I will use and therefore save. Moving from EDF 2014 to 2017 fix would be equivalent to a year on year increase in price of around 6.5% over the term so I guess that is about as good as I can expect in the present climate, especially when inflation is stripped out.

tunnel

Living_proof wrote: »

Thanks Mabs, of course it is - I am not thinking! I haven't had E7 for donkeys years and it got me into the strict habit of putting on everything at night. Now I will have to change totally to do things when the sun is shining.

With regard to the fixed pricing I have estimated how much energy I will generate and how much of that I will use and therefore save. Moving from EDF 2014 to 2017 fix would be equivalent to a year on year increase in price of around 6.5% over the term so I guess that is about as good as I can expect in the present climate, especially when inflation is stripped out.

Or you could take a fix till march 2015 and then hope that Red Ed gets into government and freezes prices for another 18 months:rotfl:

Living_proof

Yes indeed, it is something of a dilemma isn't it! I can't see it happening though, even if he does get in.

There are so many different scenarios and parameters involved in all this it is even more of a lottery than ever. I need a solar powered crystal ball!

legoman62

EricMears wrote: »

FIT rates are completely independent of the price you pay to buy electricity.

Since some days should be at very low usage it's more important to arrange lowest possible standing charge (or even a no SC tariff if you can find one) and less important what you're paying for daytime units.

My sentiments also. I have been trying to find a supplier with no S/C.... only problem is, unless you are a very low user it will cost more due to the higher kWh price:(
I am currently with Eon on a fixed price until April 2014.
Eon charge me for electricity 25.460 S/C per day and 13.083 per kWh and for gas 29.285 S/C per day and 4.18 per kWh

I am about to change to First:Utility fixed until April 2015.
The S/C are 19.95 per day each, for electricity and gas, then electricity 10.975 per kWh and gas 3.689 per kWh:D

And you can get £30.00 cashback with this deal:rotfl: