Export tariffs - FIT, SEG, Octopus Outgoing Agile

MancMan123

Yesterday Screwdriva I quoted your logic on this, but last night I did some maths using another users annual usage over the past 4 years.

IF I got my sums correct, over the course of 12 months I would be exporting 430 KW/h more than I consume.
Assuming, and this is a large assumption, that incoming and outgoing rates stay roughly line with each other then indeed using the grid as my battery would seem like a possibility ......... BUT we are now coming to the end of the solar harvesting season, well it will be by the time i am up and running (lead time roughly 8 weeks).
So I will be importing at the higher rate of 55p kw/h and not sending much to the grid to offset this
So with this in mind, would it be best to wait to install any panels till the season starts back up again (end of Feb/early march).
Or be on the 7.5p kw/h export and 39p kw/h import tariff between installation and 28th february

Are you able to chop and change tariffs so easily?

I hope that makes sense

70sbudgie

I am on Octopus outgoing Agile and standard E7 import. My import is currently a 30.36p day rate and 20.92p night rate. And yes I expect the rates to go up after Friday, but it won't be for a month (as the supplier has to give you a month's notice of price rises). Also, I think it is the day rate that is at the cap.

I only switched to Agile outgoing a couple weeks ago, from the fixed outgoing. I wish I had done it sooner, but thought I had to have Agile incoming as well and didn't want that (because it is an increase in costs for me). 

When I switched to Agile, I filled in the online form on the Monday morning and by evening it had kicked in. And actually it was applied from Sunday. (I hadn't clicked what it meant when the small print that said that when going onto an Agile tariff it is applied to the consumption for the price period before you request the change)

So yes, it is easy to switch. I think there are some restrictions to how often you can switch tariffs, but think it is something like only being able to switch onto a fixed rate once everything 3 months. (So this would give you 2 switches - one to and one away).

I would suggest that being on Agile outgoing during the winter is much better. You may not generate as much, but every kWhr that you do generate will be worth so much more. I may only have exported 54kWhrs November to January (3 months), but at potentially 60p/kWhr, that's well worth having instead of the £4 I earned last winter.

I'm not convinced that Agile import is the best rate right now.

MancMan123

Thanks 70sbudgie, I thought economy 7 was a thing of the past, along with storage heaters.

So to confirm, the only way to get "cheaper" electricity at night, without an EV, is on an E7 tariff for import, coupled with the agile tariff for my export

Screwdriva

70sbudgie said:

I would suggest that being on Agile outgoing during the winter is much better. You may not generate as much, but every kWhr that you do generate will be worth so much more. I may only have exported 54kWhrs November to January (3 months), but at potentially 60p/kWhr, that's well worth having instead of the £4 I earned last winter.

I'm not convinced that Agile import is the best rate right now.

Agree 100% with both your points.

I was fortunate in that I followed the advice of another wise forum member and switched to Agile Incoming before the price increase. So I'm "fixed" at .36p with a .21p standing charge for atleast another 10 months. 

Batteries began to seem like an indulgence when Outgoing Agile exceeded the ~ .20p per kWh mark. Now that the tariff has since more than doubled, it appears we're back in an era when the maximum roof output makes the most sense. 

70sbudgie

MancMan123 said:

Thanks 70sbudgie, I thought economy 7 was a thing of the past, along with storage heaters.

So to confirm, the only way to get "cheaper" electricity at night, without an EV, is on an E7 tariff for import, coupled with the agile tariff for my export

I have no idea how I have got E7 tariff on a smart meter, but I wasn't about to turn it away!

I can only think that it is because Octopus installed our smart meter and to do so, they had to remove an analogue E7 meter. So it must be on our record that we have E7?

With the current prices, I would recommend anyone to request an E7 tariff. As far as I can see, the only reason not to would be the standing charge. I think it may be slightly higher for E7 - mine is 42.06p a day. So the question becomes can you use enough of your electricity during the cheap night rate to pay for the higher standing charge? For me, if means I het to charge my EV at 20p/kWhr instead of 30p/kWhr. So I think my one charge a month pays for the difference. 

I also think that E7 will make more of a come back, with EVs and domestic batteries. Otherwise Octopus will end up being the only supplier!

Alnat1

I'm Agile for supply and also got the 35p/kWh 21p SC tariff, starting on 21st July which happened to be the day before it was withdrawn. Agile Outgoing for export. I'm new with solar, installed in March

I have 5.25kWp on the roof and a small 4.8kW battery. I'm learning to sometimes delay charging until around 11.00- 12.00 when my system hits the 3.68 cap. This allows me to go over the cap until the battery is full and I'm also able to play with the rate the battery fills to extend it a bit.

Also had a play with forced discharge yesterday evening so I was sending the max I could out at the 80p rate.

The battery is a nice toy to play with and I'm looking forward to learning new tricks as the seasons change.

NoobSolar

I can imagine heating a hw cylinder with gas is now preferable to using the iboost if the energy fed back through outgoing agile is going to net you 50p a kwh. It takes about 8kwh to heat mine and that would be 4 quid as opposed to about 1 quid for gas.

70sbudgie

Yes. I've promised my husband I won't turn on the diverter I've just bought until the export rate is much closer to the gas rate. So instead of reducing our gas use, it has now become a hedge against future gas prices.

2nd_time_buyer

Despite being on Agile export, I have mixed feeling about the current rates. These ridiculously high prices now are going to mean a lot of pain down the line if they persist. Even the direst predictions for the energy price cap next year, don't fully account for the recent surge in prices.   

Magnitio

2nd_time_buyer said:

Despite being on Agile export, I have mixed feeling about the current rates. These ridiculously high prices now are going to mean a lot of pain down the line if they persist. Even the direst predictions for the energy price cap next year, don't fully account for the recent surge in prices.   

There has been a desperate lack of wind generation recently which is part of the reason for the higher prices. At the time of writing only 1% of the UK's energy is being supplied by wind, which is about as low as it gets.