Solar install recently (boiler replacement options)

Mikeyboy01443

I would also go for standard boiler and hot water tank over a combi now based experience. 
Flexibility to heat your water via gas or solar if you have excess
Also if there was extended power outage (unlikely but let's see what winter brings) then i assume you couldn't heat the water without power, whereas you have it there in a tank.
Also i am on agile outgoing, this is much better than going standard seg or fixed, yes it could change, everything does but take advantage while it's still there i say 🙂

Screwdriva

Reed_Richards said:

Screwdriva said:

3) Your SEG expectations are quite conservative. Octopus outgoing Agile is paying .>25p per kWh currently. 

I'd say "realistic" rather than "conservative".  Octopus offer far and away the best SEG rates available so if they go the way of so many other electricity companies or revise their policies then your economics are out the window.  You need to be an Octopus customer for your incoming electricity, with a smart meter.

Outgoing Octopus comes in two flavours – Fixed or Agile. Outgoing Fixed guarantees 7.5p per kWh for every unit you export. Outgoing Agile matches your half-hourly prices with day-ahead wholesale rates, helping you make the most of the energy you generate. 

On the contrary, the Agile tariff is the most realistic tariff on the market, reflective of actual market pricing. I prefer not to cast doubt on a tariff based on what I believe may happen.

Reed_Richards

So why does Octopus have no competition whatsoever for solar with SEG?  I repeat:

Is octopus even allowed to offset their metered imported solar electricity against the quantity of exported electricity they have to pay for?    

  

2nd_time_buyer

Reed_Richards said:

So why does Octopus have no competition whatsoever for solar with SEG?  I repeat:

Is octopus even allowed to offset their metered imported solar electricity against the quantity of exported electricity they have to pay for?    

  

With the current situation, customers are not switching. Energy companies have their hands full with their present customers, without having to take on a few relatively complex SEG customers. So the open market for SEG is not working that well. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if Octopus have over 50% of the SEG market, giving them economies of scale and a significant competitive advantage.

In answer to your other question. I don't see why they wouldn't be able to offset imported energy. The aim of the SEG over FIT was to establish an open market for export. It would seem counterintuitive for their to be no incentive for them.

Screwdriva

Reed_Richards said:

So why does Octopus have no competition whatsoever for solar with SEG? 
  

When Bulb was in its heyday, I often asked myself (& them) why they didn’t offer the equivalent of the Agile tariff. The only answer I got (from employees) is that the company didn’t see the benefit to justify the technological investment. Fast forward a couple years and it would appear the myopia wasn’t limited to just their solar team. 

Alnat1

I'm on Agile for both import and export, managed to switch to Agile for supply the day before the cap was raised, so a full year of max 35p import. I also have battery storage.

I can see there may be times ahead when it's worth emptying the batteries at the evening peak when Agile Outgoing is paying 60p+ and running the load overnight on 35p import.

arms

 Your SEG expectations are quite conservative. Octopus outgoing Agile is paying .>25p per kWh currently. 

We are on Go. Take the opportunity to charge car and battery (if forecast is rubbish) on cheap rate.

Reed_Richards

So being on "Go" means you can't be on Outgoing, if I understand correctly.

Mikeyboy01443

That is correct, if you are on go you can only go on the basic SEG. I'm just on the standard tariff as i wanted a better export rate, and if i do end up using grid electricity, i cant always control what time i use it so I'm better off sticking on this for now....
When it's winter and I'm not generating as much solar, and not exporting, go will make more sense...

70sbudgie

I was on Go first, as I got my EV before my PV. When my SEG was processed, Octopus very politely informed me that they were switching me their SVT. I understand that now you can get Go if you opt for the lower export rate, but that wasn't available when I got my solar panels.

I briefly considered switching, but my employer lets me charge at work for free, so I have been managing to charge at home just once a month recently and therefore the higher export tariff is a no brainer. Especially as I seem to have some sort of loyalty discount on the SVT.