Solar Panel Fit Payment ,Smart Meter and Octopus Power

voddyman

Hi,

As an ex Avro customer, I have been moved onto Octopus power. Now they are offering smart meters but as I have solar panels I really need to know that if I get a smart meter installed will that affect what I get paid for my Fit payment as I think that the meter will be able to calculate exactly and more importantly what I generate back into the national grid and NOT what I presently get paid which I believe is an estimated calculation of 50%. 

So what I really need to know is will I be better off NOT getting a smart meter and continuing with what I am presently getting as a "FIT PAYMENT"  or would I be better off getting a smart meter installed?

I presently receive my FIT payments from the Good Energy Company, so would that also continue, or would that be changed as well if I get a smart meter from Octopus?

Thanks in advance and all advice will be greatly appreciated in helping me come to a decision 

[Deleted User]

A smart meter will not have any impact on your FIT payments which are based on generation not export. You can still remain on 50% deemed export payments or you can elect for SEG if your exports are significantly more than 50%. A smart meter will record exports but SEG will only be paid if the meter has an export MPAN.

There is no need to change your FIT provider when you change your supplier.

QrizB

People (not necessarily you!) sometimes get quite excited about this, but here's my take. Full disclosure: I have solar panels, receive FIT payments, have a smart meter and am with Octopus for my electricity.

• Your FIT arrangement is independent of your electricity supplier. You can leave it with Good Energy or you can switch it to Octopus, or to a third supplier, as you wish.
• If you have a smart meter fitted you will gain an export meter (a register within the smart meter).
• In theory, once you have an export meter Good Energy are then obliged by the terms of their (and your) FIT contract to switch you to metered export rather than deemed export. In practice they probably won't. If you decide you'd be better off with metered export, you can however ask to switch.
• None of this will affect the generation payments you receive based on your total generation.
• Another option would be to give up your FIT export payments (keeping the Good Energy generation payments) and switch to Octopus's SEG tariff. Normally this would be pointless but Octopus Outgoing Agile is currently paying at least 10p/kWh, and often 20p/kWh or more, for export. See here for more info (there are pages for each region, pick yours.)

I don't know how big your system is or how much you export (you won't know how much tyou export either, not until you get an export meter). Let's imagine you've got a 3kWp system and generate 3000kWh/yr, exporting half of those. You currently earn around £80 per year in deemed generation payments. On Outgoing Octopus Agile you might instead earn £150 or more (potentially £300 or more if wholesale prices remain high, but hopefully they will fall once winter passes into spring).

voddyman

[Deleted User] said:

A smart meter will not have any impact on your FIT payments which are based on generation not export. You can still remain on 50% deemed export payments or you can elect for SEG if your exports are significantly more than 50%. A smart meter will record exports but SEG will only be paid if the meter has an export MPAN.

There is no need to change your FIT provider when you change your supplier.

Hi Dolar,

Thanks for your reply, much appreciated. Could you explain to me what SEG and an export MPAN are, as I have never heard of these??

Also good to know that I can go ahead and get a smart meter and it won't have any effect on my FIT payments.

[Deleted User]

Every home has a MPAN which is the number allocated to your electrical supply. Your meter serial number is linked to this MPAN. Smart meters can record both import and export kWhs. If you want to be paid for export under the Special Export Guarantee Scheme (SEG) the meter is allocated a second MPAN. If, for example, you increase the size of your solar, you could elect to have all your exported energy paid for under the SEG scheme. It is relevant also to new solar arrays which do not get FIT. It follows that you could use Octopus for import and Good Energy for SEG hence the need for two MPANs.

voddyman

[Deleted User] said:

Every home has a MPAN which is the number allocated to your electrical supply. Your meter serial number is linked to this MPAN. Smart meters can record both import and export kWhs. If you want to be paid for export under the Special Export Guarantee Scheme (SEG) the meter is allocated a second MPAN. If, for example, you increase the size of your solar, you could elect to have all your exported energy paid for under the SEG scheme. It is relevant also to new solar arrays which do not get FIT. It follows that you could use Octopus for import and Good Energy for SEG hence the need for two MPANs.

Excellent mate thank you. Think I'll just get the smart meter and stay with the fit payments that I have been receiving for a few years now. 👍👍

voddyman

QrizB said:

People (not necessarily you!) sometimes get quite excited about this, but here's my take. Full disclosure: I have solar panels, receive FIT payments, have a smart meter and am with Octopus for my electricity.

• Your FIT arrangement is independent of your electricity supplier. You can leave it with Good Energy or you can switch it to Octopus, or to a third supplier, as you wish.
• If you have a smart meter fitted you will gain an export meter (a register within the smart meter).
• In theory, once you have an export meter Good Energy are then obliged by the terms of their (and your) FIT contract to switch you to metered export rather than deemed export. In practice they probably won't. If you decide you'd be better off with metered export, you can however ask to switch.
• None of this will affect the generation payments you receive based on your total generation.
• Another option would be to give up your FIT export payments (keeping the Good Energy generation payments) and switch to Octopus's SEG tariff. Normally this would be pointless but Octopus Outgoing Agile is currently paying at least 10p/kWh, and often 20p/kWh or more, for export. See here for more info (there are pages for each region, pick yours.)

I don't know how big your system is or how much you export (you won't know how much tyou export either, not until you get an export meter). Let's imagine you've got a 3kWp system and generate 3000kWh/yr, exporting half of those. You currently earn around £80 per year in deemed generation payments. On Outgoing Octopus Agile you might instead earn £150 or more (potentially £300 or more if wholesale prices remain high, but hopefully they will fall once winter passes into spring).

Hmmm, thanks for your in depth reply. If I remember correctly my system is over 3.5 kw and I know that I roughly £350-400 a year paid in FIT payments.

QrizB

voddyman said:

Hmmm, thanks for your in depth reply. If I remember correctly my system is over 3.5 kw and I know that I roughly £350-400 a year paid in FIT payments.

Your FIT payments will be made up of two parts; a generation payment (for every kWh generated) and an export payment (for every kWh exported, in your current case deemed to be 50% of what you generate). The current rates are given here and vary depending on the size and date of installation of your system. I can't say exactly what generation rate you're being paid but your export payment should be 5.57p/kWh for around (3500/2) 1750kWh/yr, say £100/yr. (The other £300/yr is your generation payment and you'll keep that unless you quit the FIT scheme completely.)

Once you get a smart meter you'll be able to see exactly how much electricity you are exporting and can decide whether to remain on deemed export, or not.

(I had my smart meter fitted in late July. Since then I've generated 826kWh and have exported 447kWh. It looks like I might be better off choosing metered export, but they numbers are close enough that I want to monitor a full year's generation before making any changes.)

Edited because I couldn't leave my typos here. I shouldn't post before coffee.

voddyman

QrizB said:

voddyman said:

Hmmm, thanks for your in depth reply. If I remember correctly my system is over 3.5 kw and I know that I roughly £350-400 a year paid in FIT payments.

Your FIT payments will be made up of two parts; a generation payment (for every kWh generated) and an export payment (for every kWh exported, in your current case deemed to be 50% of what you generate). The current rates are given here and vafry depending on the size and date of installation of your system. I can't say exactly what generation rate you're being paid but your export payment should be 5.57p/kWh for around (3500/2) 1750kWh/yr, say £100/yr. (The other £300/yr is your generation payment and you'll keep that unless you quite the FIT scheme completely.)

Once you get a smart meter you'll be able to see exactly how much electricity you are exporting andf can decide whether to remain on deemed export, or not.

(I had my smart meter fitted in late July. Since then I've generated 826kWh and have exported 447kWh. It looks like I might be better off choosing metered export, but they numbers are close enough that I want to get a full year's numbers before making any changes.)

Brilliant, thank you so much for your help, much appreciated.
So going by what I have been told by the helpful people in here, it is ok for me to get a smart meter fitted and it will not affect the amount in getting paid at the moment.
One the meter is installed I shall monitor it like you say and decide what role I take from then.
Thank you again 👍👍

MWT

voddyman said:

So going by what I have been told by the helpful people in here, it is ok for me to get a smart meter fitted and it will not affect the amount in getting paid at the moment.

Just to be clear, the correct answer was given above...

QrizB said:

• In theory, once you have an export meter Good Energy are then obliged by the terms of their (and your) FIT contract to switch you to metered export rather than deemed export. In practice they probably won't. If you decide you'd be better off with metered export, you can however ask to switch.

Odds are it will have no impact, it should cause you to be switched to metered export, but mostly does not happen, especially when using a different entity for your FiT from your meter supply.

Mister_G

I've had solar PV for over 10 years now.  Initially my FIT was paid by npower but my supplier was Ovo, who fitted a SMETS1 smart meter about 8 years ago.

The meter does register export, but npower appeared to be happy to carry on paying on the deemed 50% rate.

Interestingly, with the demise of Symbio (who were my recent supplier) I am now with Eon next for supply.

The same has also happened to my FIT, as npower are now Eon next as well.

We'll have to wait and see if Eon put two and two together!