On-grid domestic battery storage

shavy65

So, I had already pushed the `Enquire` here button before I posted on here.....so, yeah, regretting that now after reading the above reply!

No harm done anyway, was only going to get a rough price to share with all interested parties on here anyway.

As always, cheers!

Hexane

shavy65 wrote: »

So, I had already pushed the `Enquire` here button before I posted on here.....so, yeah, regretting that now after reading the above reply!

I think we've had some posters on here who had not just enquired, not just had a quote, but actually gone ahead and signed a credit agreement or paid a deposit! But thankfully consumer protection law in this country is still (for a few more weeks at least?) fairly robust, so they were able to cancel and get their money back.

joefizz

Just had this quarters electricity bill in and its 7.68. Thats down from 8.74 from the same quarter last year.
So thats about a quid saved by being away for a month...

Reed_Richards

In my area the MSE Energy Club is giving me access to an E.ON tariff ("Fix 1 Year Exclusive Autumn 2019") with, for me, a 5.25p per day standing charge and 15.551p per kWh. This seems an attractive tariff for anyone who consumes only small amounts of electricity from the grid because they have a battery (or for other reasons). Of course if your electricity consumption is sufficiently small then a zero standing charge tariff will win-out.

JKenH

I am thinking that electricity prices will become more volatile as more wind generation is rolled out (see other thread Discussion ... ASHP(Air/Air) with Solar pv). The opportunities for those with batteries to trade their electricity will therefore grow leading those who can afford them to install even bigger batteries.

At what point will HMRC decide this is a business or local authorities and insurance companies decide you are running a business from home?

Reed_Richards

Given the thinking on taxation of FIT payments
http://www.yougen.co.uk/blog-entry/3009/Are+payments+for+domestic+microgeneration+liable+to+income+tax'3F/
I think it is likely you would find yourself liable to income tax on electricity trading profits.

If electricity trading were deemed to be a business then you could offset the cost of the battery against profits which would ensure that you wouldn't make any profits until you had paid-off the cost of the battery. That would be a considerable advantage over simply declaring any profits as part of your income.

Heedtheadvice

Suggestion for Joefizz....


Considering what you wrote about your backup freezers being 'offline' for a period owing to trips:


Have you considered having a mains monitoring circuit that would switch on a sounder if there was a failure? Does not prevent issues but may draw them to your attention!



Could also be of use for anyone who needs warning of lack of power to any circuit!

joefizz

Heedtheadvice wrote: »

Suggestion for Joefizz....


Considering what you wrote about your backup freezers being 'offline' for a period owing to trips:


Have you considered having a mains monitoring circuit that would switch on a sounder if there was a failure? Does not prevent issues but may draw them to your attention!

Thanks for the reminder, must get back to sorting out the audible alarm! I did have other notifications set up but it was only one tripped RCD in an outbuilding. Im going to be working on the garden lighting system next week so might tie that in as well.



Ive since redesigned it as I hadnt considered that just one RCD would go and had primarily thought about total mains loss.


On doing further research (my supplier denied there was any problem) I found a brownout in my inverter stats the day after I left. Neighbours were also on holiday and as I was away for a month it really wouldnt have helped but Ive since split them across circuits so a similar loss wont be as great (and will time running down the freezers better before I go away!)
Probably just unlucky with the brownout, high ambient temperatures that day and the large freezer (or both) kicking in at the same time.


Timely post as over the weekend I updated my battery inverter firmware. The manufacturer did ask why I needed to do it because generally if its working, leave well alone (which I agree with) but I said Id prefer any bug fixes included.
The latest version of the software has some changed screen layouts and finally I can set the battery reserve down to 15% (which for some reason would never stick for me before). Of course its now out of step with the published manual and I havent had enough sun the last few days to test if it works better or not ;-)
Schoolboy error though in that the update firmware micro sd card also had some date named directories which I assume is the legacy stats reporting and got distracted and didnt download those to the pc before updating, will look at those later.


The reminder also reminds me to go out and check the oil level as well, normally fill up this time of year with a years worth so when/if it ever stops raining I'll go out and take a look.

Martyn1981

Here's something funny(ish), if you watch this episode of Tesla Time News at approx 45min 40secs they experience a powercut (falling tree outside), and the house switches to Tesla Powerwalls very smoothly.

This may be old news to the battery geeks, but I was quite impressed.

Tesla Time News - Model Y Spotted!

joefizz

Quick update on the oil situation.
Just about to order home heating oil. Normally I would order in the region of 1100 litres the first week in September to completely fill the tank.
I'll be ordering now next week (first week in November delivery) and I dont think I could fit 900 litres in, possibly 800.

So thats hit the target using the battery to power ashp and immersion of reducing yearly oil consumption by at least 300 litres given the 2 month time shift plus less oil needed.

As of last night, heating is back on to winter settings so will run the ashp down.
Oil price is roughly the same as it was back at the start of September although it did spike inbetween so no real savings in monetary terms with the time shift. If its repeated next year then there could be an argument for the time shift causing the price to rise (start of Jan) so might be a case of buying lesser amounts during cheaper parts of the year (offset by bulk pricing savings etc).


300 odd litres saving only works out at about 140 quid this year so in monetary terms pushes the ashp recovery time out a bit but the discussion over on the BEV thread made me think about it in terms of CO2 and it works out at a bit less than half my yearly diesel driving amount in fuel which is something to think about.
Other than faffing about with a manual timed switch on the immersion and manually turning the ashp on theres been no real difference in lifestyle (same temperature, same level of hot water, if anything the immersion water is slightly hotter because its immediately used).



Last night it was -2C out near the ashp external unit so its really not feasible for here during winter.


Am tempted just to order 500 litres and see how it goes but its pretty much the lowest price its been in almost 2 years...