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Solar storage and British Gas E7

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Comments

  • QrizB
    QrizB Posts: 21,717 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    The tariff and your solar panels are not connected, you are right.
    Why you want to be on an E7 is none of BG's concern, you don't need to justify it to them.
    Do you have a smart meter?
    Yes, we do have a smart meter. I’ve had customer services tell me I’m switched/I’m not switched, I need my meter replaced/I don’t need it replaced. I have an appointment/I never had one.
    I’d imagine that they would just be able to push a simple ‘update’ command to my meter and that should be it. Modern tech makes these things so simple!
    I don't know the current situation, but a year or so ago BG were unable to support E7 on smart meters without an awful lot of pain and grief.
    If that is still the situation, your only option to get E7 is to switch supplier.
    N. Hampshire, he/him. Octopus Intelligent Go elec & Tracker gas / Vodafone BB / iD mobile. Kirk Hill Co-op member.
    2.72kWp PV facing SSW installed Jan 2012. 11 x 247w panels, 3.6kw inverter. 35 MWh generated, long-term average 2.6 Os.
    Ofgem cap table, Ofgem cap explainer. Economy 7 cap explainer. Gas vs E7 vs peak elec heating costs, Best kettle!
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Homepage Hero Name Dropper
    edited 10 December 2025 at 2:46PM
    69bertie said:

    Yes, I could probably get more for the export that I produce, so a case of swings and roundabouts coming into play. What does annoy me though with Octopus is I have to join them first and then get switched to their other tariffs. I'm not allowed to just sign up for what tariff I would like to be on. So, for a time, I'd be paying more than I do now.
    Hi @69bertie - I initiated a switch to Octopus Agile from EDF E7 last Thursday morning. They started supplying me on their E7 SVR tariff on Saturday (within factions of a penny the same as EDF's) and then switched me to Agile on Sunday. I have the final bill from EDF today. It's hard to see how the process could have been any more straightforward. I did already have a SMETS2 smart meter, which I still have and can still use for taking export readings for EDF who make my FIT payments. The reason you can't just sign up for one of the Octopus smart tariffs is that they rely on a smart meter sending data so they need to check that first. If you have a recent smart meter then you're good to go - if not might be worth getting one from your existing supplier if you can and then switching.

    Not quite. Octopus needs to see about 14 day’s worth of 30 minute usage data as the loss of one by 30 minute data segment stops their system from billing. Agile DOES NOT bill on meter index readings. Bills are produced based on usage/30 min * the 30 min unit price. You will receive a monthly bill running to over 30 pages.

    If you want to monitor your daily costs then download an App such as Octo-Aid or Octopus Watch.




    Hmmm interesting. The communication I've had from Octopus shows me as being on Agile for a week or so now and starting 3 days after I initiated the switch. It also shows me as being on Agile in the Octopus app / online account. Maybe something has changed or we are cross purposes? Happy to accept I've missed something if that's the case.

    What app is the above screenshot from? Thanks :)
  • powerful_Rogue
    powerful_Rogue Posts: 8,657 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Don't forget if you use a referral code when signing upto Octopus, you get a £50 credit applied to your account. That should cover the use before you can switch tariffs.
  • I've just answered my own question - can now see my own data in Octopus Watch having entered the API key. Bit puzzled though - it's showing savings agains Agile/Go but also it looks like the Tariff is Agile. Will have to spend some time playing with it.
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