EV, solar panels and electricity bills

Just_33

Help! I have solar panels, and an EV. My fixed low rate with Octopus Go is ending, and I am not sure if I should take the fixed rate offered by Octopus or go with the price cap? Is there a way I could be utilising the solar panels to save money, as I don’t really understand how to make the most of them. Thank you. 

ProDave

How old are the solar panels? Do you own them?  Do you receive the Feed In Tariff for them?

MWT

Just_33 said:

Help! I have solar panels, and an EV. My fixed low rate with Octopus Go is ending, and I am not sure if I should take the fixed rate offered by Octopus or go with the price cap? Is there a way I could be utilising the solar panels to save money, as I don’t really understand how to make the most of them. Thank you. 

The answer has more to do with how often you charge your EV during the cheap 'Go' period than anything you are going to be doing with your solar panels.

Petriix

The new Go peak price is only 2p over the April price cap. You'd be crazy not to fix on Go for another year. The standing charge is lower on Go too, and there's no exit fee.

Re solar charging: if your car is regularly at home during the day then get a Zappi and leave it plugged in as much as possible. We've diverted almost 1,000kWh of solar into the car in the last 14 months.

Just_33

ProDave said:

How old are the solar panels? Do you own them?  Do you receive the Feed In Tariff for them?

Hi, the solar panels are 7 years old, and we own them.  Yes, we get the FIT for them. 

[Deleted User]

Petriix said:

The new Go peak price is only 2p over the April price cap. You'd be crazy not to fix on Go for another year. The standing charge is lower on Go too, and there's no exit fee.

Re solar charging: if your car is regularly at home during the day then get a Zappi and leave it plugged in as much as possible. We've diverted almost 1,000kWh of solar into the car in the last 14 months.

The OP will need an awful lot of solar PV to pay for a Zappi with or without the OLEV grant. The short answer to the OP’s question is demand shift: that is, maximise domestic energy use when the sun shines. I agree that staying with Octopus Go is a no brainer. I suspect that it hasn’t been offered in the various emails. An email to hello@ is all that is needed to get a further 12 months on Go tariff.