FIT Issues

Dobbylad

Hi everyone, sorry for not posting for a while, I'm trying to pick this up again and apologies if I sound like I don't understand what you are all saying I just want to make sure I just want to fully clarify what I've read from all your comments so far:

QrizB said:

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.

I 100% understand this point and get what your are saying....my initial gripe is that our generation rate is 10% of what we should be getting giving the EPC if it had been issued before the commission of the system (0.42p instead of 4.2p) so yes my figures i was thinking of needed to be adjusted to reflect the export tariff.

QrizB said:

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.

I'll look for both of these tonight when I get home and post my findings

QrizB said:

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.

I do feel 'diddled' as the house was built with the panels on, these weren't added afterwards it was part of the house construction, so because of, lets call it an admin error, and the EPC not being issued before they commissioned the system we're now losing out, potentially, by quite a lot.

My main reason for this was mostly for self gain, however how many other people are in a similar situation and are unaware of it? for the sake of the £30ish a year we get it's pointless having them on.

As I've said I'll take a look at the info you've asked for and post my findings......but what options do I have going forward to fix the problem? we're currently with BG....can we move supplier? can we get the rate were supposed to get by recommissioning the system? 

Thanks in advance

QrizB

Good to see you back again!

Dobbylad said:

I'll look for both of these tonight when I get home and post my findings

Thank youm the information will help us work out exactly what's going on with your system.

I do feel 'diddled' as the house was built with the panels on, these weren't added afterwards it was part of the house construction, so because of, lets call it an admin error, and the EPC not being issued before they commissioned the system we're now losing out, potentially, by quite a lot.

I appreciate your frustration. If your builder had been better organised you'd be in a better situation. But I'm not sure what you can do about it today.

As I've said I'll take a look at the info you've asked for and post my findings......but what options do I have going forward to fix the problem? we're currently with BG....can we move supplier? can we get the rate were supposed to get by recommissioning the system?

You can move supplier but that won't change the rate you're paid. And you can't recommission the system because the scheme closed to new applicants three years ago. (That's not the only reason but ut's the most obvious one.)

Dobbylad

Finally got some info for you.....was waiting for the bill to land.

See below our latest quarterly FIT bill, so I understand the previous comment about the amount and the export tariff...my point is and I know you get it, but just to be clear....the £2.14 Generation should in my eyes by £21.40.

Does this give you the info you needed as I couldn't find the array info??? I suspect this may be in the loft and I haven't been able to get up there yet.

Mister_G

Op - You might want to blank out your address

QrizB

Thank you for the image, that's quite helpful. Even without full details of the system we can work a few things out.

• You've had your system for five(ish) years. In that time it has generated 6573kWh. This suggests to me that it's a 1.2kWp to 1.4kWp system, which is on the smaller side. I guess you have four to six panels on your roof? (EDIT: I can see your house on Google Maps, and I think you have six panels but pointing quite a long way west.. This means your total generation is less than with a south-facing array but you produce more in the evenings when you're likely to be home, and export less in the middle of the day when you're out.)
  
• You're getting 0.45p/kWh generation payments. Yes, I agree that if you'd had your EPC done before the system was commissioned you'd probably be getting 4.5p/kWh and the £2.14 would instead be £21.40.
• You are also getting your generation payments of 5.99p/kWh on half of your generation (which is deemed to be exported).

Getting back to your original post:

Dobbylad said:

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.

If you had generated all 6573kWh at the current rate of 0.45p/kWh for every kWh and 5.99p/kWh for half of them, you will have earned a total of £226.44. Let's call this your base case.

If, however, you had your EPC done before commissioning and were being paid 4.5p/kWh and 5.99p/kWh, you would have earned a total of £492.64.

Your total loss to date, since 2017, is no more than £266.20 (and probably quite a bit less).

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

Even with the EPC, your annual earnings would be a little under £100, not £300.

The real value of having them on your roof is in the electricity you aren't having to buy from the grid. In the five years you've had them, you've probably used 6-800kWh a year of your own generated electricity rather than buying that electricity from your energy supplier.

• In 2017 electricity was around 12p/kWh and this will have saved you perhaps £70 to £100.
• This year, with electricity at 28p/kWh, it will have saved you £170 to £220.
• Next year, when the EPG ends in April and electricity is expected to revert to 50p/kWh, it will potentially save you £300 to £400.
  

Dobbylad

Thanks for this I think I'm starting to get my head around what you are saying.

I am right in thinking then that the money we are getting back is surplus energy the house hasn't used so in affect we've used some of the generated power?

I can, in the current market, appreciate that we're quite lucky at the moment that our electric monthly cost is quite low....if my thoughts above are correct then that would explain why.

I am though quite rightly peeved that we aren't getting what potentially we should've been and I suppose that's just one of those things.....if nothing can be done then we'll just have to accept that...it'll just something to look out for when we get our next house.

Thank you for your patience and input into this query for me.

QrizB

Dobbylad said:

Thanks for this I think I'm starting to get my head around what you are saying.
I am right in thinking then that the money we are getting back is surplus energy the house hasn't used so in affect we've used some of the generated power?

Kind of.

It's assumed that you use half of it yourself and export the other half; it's that "deemed export" half that you get paid the 5.99p/kWh for. However it is simply an assumption, no-one knows how much of it you use and how much you don't.

People with larger arrays (3kW+) typically export far more than they use, but with a smaller array like yours - particularly as it faces west - it's quite possible that you are using more than you export.

If you had a way of using 100% of the electricity you generate, you would still be paid for exporting half of it.

I can, in the current market, appreciate that we're quite lucky at the moment that our electric monthly cost is quite low....if my thoughts above are correct then that would explain why.

Yes, your metered electricity use - and your electricity bill - is reduced because some of the electricity is generated on your roof and is not brought in from the grid.

I am though quite rightly peeved that we aren't getting what potentially we should've been and I suppose that's just one of those things.....if nothing can be done then we'll just have to accept that...it'll just something to look out for when we get our next house.

And that's entirely understandable. If your builder had paid more attention you could be £200+ better off.

Thank you for your patience and input into this query for me.

I'm pleased I've been able to explain some of the workings of your system and the FIT. If you ever need more help with solar PV questions, the "Green and Ethical" sub-forum has quite an active community of PVers.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/green-ethical-moneysaving