New Octopus tariff for solar and battery users - Octopus Flux

Ron-ski

70sbudgie said:

Has anyone with only solar and an EV signed up yet? I mean, with no static domestic battery. I am having some issues with the sign up webpage and am trying to work out if it is my IT or that when signed in, the system recognises that there's no battery linked to my account.

I know of people that have signed up and are on it without a battery, there is no requirement for a battery, and having an EV doesn't matter either.

Meatballs

Recently signed up without battery. The website t&C's state it's for solar and battery and they may move you to a more suitable tariff etc.

The final t&C's you get emailed just say solar below 9kWp.

Technically I have a UPS on my router I could toggle on and off with a smart plug..!

flyinggoose

So I got an email this morning confirming that the flux tariff was now active, however when I go to my account on the Octopus website it shows the import tariff being flux but the export tariff hasn't changed, still showing the previous export tariff that I was on, anyone else experienced this? I'm hoping it's just a delay in the correct tariff showing.

pensionpawn

Alnat1 said:

Think of a battery as a new toy that more than likely will pay for itself over time.

It will give you a new hobby of "energy watching", checking costs and savings, reading up about various tariffs etc. It will definitely entertain you and there's a feel good factor when, in winter you can cook dinner for "free" and in summer the overnight house load is "free". 

Try to stop thinking of a battery as an investment that must give a return and think of it as something that will make you happier. Go on, treat yourself, you know you want to. It's only like buying a very expensive posh coffee machine 

Niv asks a valid question as I also have to cost justify the investment of a battery. You could equally argue contributing the same amount of money into your pension / SIPP, enjoy the 20% tax rebate and watch your investment rise whilst tinkering with the fund allocations! I've been trying to make a battery justify itself for years and I just can't see an ROI in less than 10 years. What makes better sense to me is to wait until bi directional car charging is commercially launched (presently in trials). You then have 40 - 70 kWhr battery to soak up energy and supply the house during the dark hours! However I must admit, having only just learnt about the Flux tariff yesterday, it has seriously caught my attention, though with one significant / game over caveat, having a battery. Presently I do not have one, for the reasons highlighted above, so I'm interested to learnt whether this is a mandatory condition by Octopus or has anyone been granted the Flux export tariff without a battery? If a battery is required, do you have to import a minimum amount at night / export a minimum amount during the day, and if not why mandate a battery. Also, what is the acceptability criteria for a battery (I can't see that specified on their website)?

pensionpawn

powerful_Rogue said:

Niv said:

I am in the process of having a solar system installed (system partially up and running but still could add a battery at this point), so decided to do some very rough calcs attempting to compare flux vs outgoing fixed and it would appear that even without a battery it works out cheaper to be on flux!

The calcs are VERY rough as I don't have a smart meter but know how many units I used in March last year and have weighted unit usage to the peak rate of flux. So average units per day is 8.6 (I round this up to 10), I then assume 6 units used peak time and 4 units at day rate. I also assumed all my solar production occurred at day rate (so if I did export during peak rate the numbers would be even better!).

I find it interesting that it came out that way so will be interesting to see if I can get onto this tariff without a battery.

Battery isn't a requirment to get onto this tariff.

I don't have a battery and this is the go / no go for me. Can I ask how you know this to be the case? I couldn't find anything on the Octopus website to say that a battery was optional. Have you been accepted onto the Flux export tariff without a battery?

powerful_Rogue

flyinggoose said:

So I got an email this morning confirming that the flux tariff was now active, however when I go to my account on the Octopus website it shows the import tariff being flux but the export tariff hasn't changed, still showing the previous export tariff that I was on, anyone else experienced this? I'm hoping it's just a delay in the correct tariff showing.

Import goes live first, then takes a few days for export to be set up by a different team.

cm4ever

pensionpawn said:

Alnat1 said:

Think of a battery as a new toy that more than likely will pay for itself over time.

It will give you a new hobby of "energy watching", checking costs and savings, reading up about various tariffs etc. It will definitely entertain you and there's a feel good factor when, in winter you can cook dinner for "free" and in summer the overnight house load is "free". 

Try to stop thinking of a battery as an investment that must give a return and think of it as something that will make you happier. Go on, treat yourself, you know you want to. It's only like buying a very expensive posh coffee machine 

Niv asks a valid question as I also have to cost justify the investment of a battery. You could equally argue contributing the same amount of money into your pension / SIPP, enjoy the 20% tax rebate and watch your investment rise whilst tinkering with the fund allocations! I've been trying to make a battery justify itself for years and I just can't see an ROI in less than 10 years. What makes better sense to me is to wait until bi directional car charging is commercially launched (presently in trials). You then have 40 - 70 kWhr battery to soak up energy and supply the house during the dark hours! However I must admit, having only just learnt about the Flux tariff yesterday, it has seriously caught my attention, though with one significant / game over caveat, having a battery. Presently I do not have one, for the reasons highlighted above, so I'm interested to learnt whether this is a mandatory condition by Octopus or has anyone been granted the Flux export tariff without a battery? If a battery is required, do you have to import a minimum amount at night / export a minimum amount during the day, and if not why mandate a battery. Also, what is the acceptability criteria for a battery (I can't see that specified on their website)?

With regards to your question about is there a minimum import/export - definitely not, here's a graph of my import for a week in March while on Flux: -

flyinggoose

powerful_Rogue said:

flyinggoose said:

So I got an email this morning confirming that the flux tariff was now active, however when I go to my account on the Octopus website it shows the import tariff being flux but the export tariff hasn't changed, still showing the previous export tariff that I was on, anyone else experienced this? I'm hoping it's just a delay in the correct tariff showing.

Import goes live first, then takes a few days for export to be set up by a different team.

Ah right thanks for clarifying 👍 wish they made that more clear.

Ron-ski

When I signed up there was only three requirements asked.

1. You have an MCS certificate
2. You have your DNO paperwork
3. You have less than 9kW of panels

There was no question about a battery.

I'm not going to scour Octopus's website, but a Google result returns this.

It appears to me that Octopus has never been overly strict, many people have got on to Octopus Go without an EV (it was a requirement), and many people have got onto Flux without a battery, which does not seem to be a requirement.

What's the worst that can happen, you have to change tariff.

pensionpawn

Ron-ski said:

When I signed up there was only three requirements asked.

1. You have an MCS certificate
2. You have your DNO paperwork
3. You have less than 9kW of panels

There was no question about a battery.

I'm not going to scour Octopus's website, but a Google result returns this.

It appears to me that Octopus has never been overly strict, many people have got on to Octopus Go without an EV (it was a requirement), and many people have got onto Flux without a battery, which does not seem to be a requirement.

What's the worst that can happen, you have to change tariff.

...and almost as important, do these referrals actually work?