solar/standing charge. money to u.

spiv1

:easter_os:easter_osGood morning everyone. Am I the only person in the UK with solar panels,trying, and not far off succeeding in getting my energy suppliers, ( SSE) to pay ME a standing charge on the electricity they BUY of me, in just the same way I have to pay them for what I BUY of them. In quite a few emails I have explained I too have too clean and mentain my solar panels. Even my local MP has been in contact with them. WHY I'M I ON MY OWN. YOU ALL NEED TO EMAIL YOUR SUPPLIERS,
That charge you, You charge them.:money:

macman

Good luck with that one...
Standing charges are for maintenance and repair of the network, metering and billing. You have none of those responsibilities, nor does the FITs legislation entitle you to such payments.
Solar PV panels are maintenance free, they shouldn't need cleaning.

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.


Do I understand you correctly?


1. You get a generous Feed in Tariff(FIT) for every kWh you generate, however you don't have to feed any of that electricity to the grid. You can use as much electricity as you like in the house to offset your electricity bills and still get payment for everything you generate.


2. Again you can elect to get a further payment for 50% of the electricity you generate as an assumed export, even though you need not export anything.


3. The standing charge for electricity, charged by the distribution companies, is for the supply infrastructure and the cost of billing customers. Presumably you haven't contributed the distribution wiring and sub-stations etc. You are not even charged for the administration involved in paying you FIT and presumed export payments.


4. PV generated electricity is unpredictable, and contributes zilch when the grid demand is at its highest(a late winter's evening) so we still have to have exactly the same conventional generating capacity as we would regardless of solar generation.


5. The stupidly high subsidies for solar PV generation are paid for by the electricity customer, and taxpayer.


6. Despite the above you feel you should get even more money!!!


7. The world has gone mad!

thenudeone

Hopeless. The rules surrounding FIT are set by statute. Good luck with finding a way round them. you'll need it.

macman

If your MP has really taken this up, then clearly he has too much time on his hands...

aleph_0

Oh, wow. Please tell me you're not serious.

As others have said, you are paying for your connection to the grid, which enables you to then sell to the grid, and buy from the grid when you're not generating enough.

In addition, you're getting paid a generous FIT amount for each kWh generated.

Luckily, there's another option. You can go off-grid. Ask to be disconnected, you'll stop paying the standing charge. You'll probably need a bank of batteries, together with maybe some more panels, too. Or a diesel generator. That will show the energy companies who's boss!

espresso