FIT Issues

Dobbylad

I need help/advice please, having just read your article about solar panels.

We have solar panels on our roof, that were installed as part of house when it was built by Keepmoat homes in 2017.

I have since queried how much we get repaid by British Gas (our provider since moving in) as I noticed we are getting 0.42p per KW. The guidance we have says it should be 4.2p for the rating of the house we live in (Catergory B on the EPC).

Their response was that because the EPC was issued after the commission date it was rated in the lower feedback bracket.

Really not sure what to do or who to approach as BG are sticking to that statement and we're losing 90% of our feed in rate.

QrizB

Welcome to the forum.

Dobbylad said:

Their response was that because the EPC was issued after the commission date it was rated in the lower feedback bracket.

Yes, if your EPC rating was insufficient (or missing) when your system was commissioned, you'll get a lower FIT rate. I'm not aware of any mechanism to challenge this after the event.

However, you should be getting both generation and export payments. Following the April RPI increase, for a system commissioned in the period 1/10/17 to 31/12/17 system per this table these should be:

• Generation: 0.45p/kWh
• Export: 5.99p/kWh

If you're on "deemed export", that's effectively another 2.995p/kWh for every kWh generated, for a total of 3.445p/kWh.

Dobbylad

Yeah we get both it’s just annoying that someone has diddled us as it pointless having them on for what we get back (something like £30 per year) especially when it should be £300 might contact OFGEM and see what they say 

QrizB

Dobbylad said:

Yeah we get both it’s just annoying that someone has diddled us ...

Nobody has "diddled you". You're receiving the FIT payments that your new property came with.

... it pointless having them on for what we get back (something like £30 per year) especially when it should be £300

If you're being paid 3.445p/kWh and earning £30 per year, you're only generating 870kWh/yr. If you had qualified for the top rate of FIT generation payments that would have been worth around £65 a year, not £300.

The biggest benefit for properties like yours with quite a small solar array will be from the electricity you don't buy from the grid, not the FIT payment.

... might contact OFGEM and see what they say 

Ofgem can't help you.

If there's anyone you need to speak with, it's your housebuilder since they're the people who made the FIT application without an EPC.

Dobbylad

Yeah we’re supposed to be on a 4.2p per KW if the EPC was issued on time that’s according to the FIT rate table for 2017 but we’re only getting 0.42p so only 10% of what we should’ve been getting so you can see where my maths was working that out. 

I’ll contact Keepmoat and see what they say as even though you say we’re not getting diddled some delay in issuing the EPC has cost us quite a bit of money over the years. 

QrizB

Dobbylad said:

Yeah we’re supposed to be on a 4.2p per KW if the EPC was issued on time that’s according to the FIT rate table for 2017 but we’re only getting 0.42p so only 10% of what we should’ve been getting so you can see where my maths was working that out.

Yes, and we all understand why.

But including export payments you are getting 3.445p/kWh. If you had instead qualified for the top FIT rate you would've qualified for:

• Generation: 4.75p/kWh
• Export: 5.99p/kWh

... so a total of 7.745p/hWh. That's a little over twice what you are currently earning, not ten times.

Put another way, in order to earn £300/yr on that FIT you'd need to generate 3870kWh/yr, and if you were generating that much you'd currently be receiving £133 a year, not £30.

If you could give some details of your solar array (there should be a schematic near your consumer unit) we can work out some more accurate numbers.

[Deleted User]

Dobbylad said:

I’ll contact Keepmoat and see what they say as even though you say we’re not getting diddled some delay in issuing the EPC has cost us quite a bit of money over the years. 

I doubt that you will get anywhere unless this was checked by your solicitor and made part of the sale contract. For example, when I sold my property with solar, the buyer’s solicitor insisted that I provided a signed FIT transfer form. 

New builds tend to have meters etc installed well before completion. Based on my experience, the electrical certificate was signed off about a month before the SAP Assessment. Ofgem will not be interested. The rules are the rules and given the FIT Scheme has closed to new entrants, they are not going to change anything now. Sorry.

markin

They could change to SEG and get more?  Unless its all self consumption anyway.

QrizB

markin said:

They could change to SEG and get more?

The OP has already got a ~6p/kWh deemed export tariff; options for beating that are limited to Octopus Outgoing?

However, we don't yet know the size of their solar array but if it's only 1kWp (as their claim to only be earning £30/yr would suggest) they might be using most of it themselves with limited export.

Until the OP comes back with more details of their system, it's hard to recommend any changes.

Dobbylad

What do you need to see?? I’ll add photos etc if that’s helps

The £30 is a rough estimate but based of the lower rate of 0.42p instead of the 4.2p we could be getting if circumstances were different originally 

QrizB

Dobbylad said:

What do you need to see?? I’ll add photos etc if that’s helps

Two sets of data:

1. Somewhere near your consumer unit and meter you will have a schematic with details of your solar PV system. It will show the rated output of the system, in watts, plus various other details. The rated output is important as it will let us have an idea of what the system is capable of.

Edit: here's a better example.

In this example, the total system power is 3.92 kilowatts peak (kWp).

2. You should also get a quarterly FIT statement from your FIT supplier. That will say how many kWh you've generated, how much you've been paid, and how they've calculated it. Something like this:

Dobbylad said:

The £30 is a rough estimate but based of the lower rate of 0.42p instead of the 4.2p we could be getting if circumstances were different originally 

You should be able to easily find out, to the penny, how much you're actually being paid every quarter. See the example statement above.