MCS certificates for Solar

Reed_Richards

As a fully qualified sparks, surely you know that a bidirectional meter has nothing whatsoever to do with whether or not your surplus solar energy feeds back to the grid?  And it can't be a smart meter if you installed it yourself.

matt_drummer

RoynJess said:

Being a retired fully qualified sparks i installed my solar energy system myself.  Top quality hybrid inverter,  batteries,  panels etc. All current regulations fully observed. Manufacturers have approved the full warranties.   
But without an MCS certificate i can't "sell" my excess surplus energy to an energy supplier. 
Yet because i also installed a bi directional smart meter,  my surplus energy automatically feeds back to the grid.  So, the grid is benefiting from my solar system,  free of cost.  Very unfair in my opinion. 
My understanding is that Octopus can perhaps retrospectively issue the necessary documentation. 
I have today contacted Octopus,  so we will see if this correct.  

Nobody is benefitting from your excess solar generation sent to the grid.

Energy companies can only sell energy that they have bought.

Nobody knows about your excess electricity.

Have you informed/received permission from your DNO for your installation as you are required to?

mmmmikey

I've no doubt you've done a thorough and proefssional job in wiring it all up, but there's more to it than that. Have you had all the necessary permissions and approvals? Are you fully aware with all the current guidelines and/or requirements around the DC side of things? And are you in a position to prove that to anyone? As a qualified electrician you'll have seen plent of dodgy DIY work over the years so you'll understand why it's regulated.

Hope you manage to get it sorted though, be good if you could update this post with Octopus's response. Good luck

Qyburn

matt_drummer said:

Nobody is benefitting from your excess solar generation sent to the grid.

I'm not sure that's true, surely unmetered export will mean less consumption, giving a microscopic reduction in costs for someone. Whether that shows up as a cost reduction shared across all suppliers or in some other way, I don’t know.

Look at the opposite. Surely there's no doubt that a bypassed meter, meaning unmetered consumption, is detrimental.

matt_drummer

Qyburn said:

matt_drummer said:

Nobody is benefitting from your excess solar generation sent to the grid.

I'm not sure that's true, surely unmetered export will mean less consumption, giving a microscopic reduction in costs for someone. Whether that shows up as a cost reduction shared across all suppliers or in some other way, I don’t know.

Look at the opposite. Surely there's no doubt that a bypassed meter, meaning unmetered consumption, is detrimental.

Generators get paid for what they generate and retailers have to buy everything they sell from a generator.

Nobody knows about this `generator' so no energy retailer is benefitting, which I think was the jist of the comment relating to somebody's getting free electricity.

This exported electricity just gets lost.

Nobody has any opportunity to sell it.

There may be some minor repercussions in what gets written off somewhere but for the purpose of this discussion nobody is benefitting.

Think about it, if your neighbour was exporting electricity and it was going into your house, would your meter still record your import?

It would, and then your supplier would be billed for it by one of their host of suppliers, and then your supplier would bill you.

The retailer still has to pay for what was delivered to your house even though it came from your neighbour who hasn't been paid.

Reed_Richards

But in some places, like California, there are so many solar panels that the cumulative effect becomes highly significant and you get something called a "Duck Curve" where the demand for generated electricity from the supply companies falls very low around the middle of the day because of the amount of solar power.  We're not there yet in the UK but if increasing numbers of solar panels are installed then it could happen.

MP1995

Reed_Richards said:

But in some places, like California, there are so many solar panels that the cumulative effect becomes highly significant and you get something called a "Duck Curve" where the demand for generated electricity from the supply companies falls very low around the middle of the day because of the amount of solar power.  We're not there yet in the UK but if increasing numbers of solar panels are installed then it could happen.

Someone's been watching YouTube, I saw that one too.

Very interesting as we are getting to the same situation in the UK.

wrf12345

I think California also has massive Telsa battery banks so they can store it for the peak periods but back to this topic, almost, some USA states allow their meters to "run backwards" so all the solar export is credited to the household and some small solar systems can be plugged straight into the mains circuit (via a standard plug), same in Germany as well. So we definitely need a better/fairer system that will push the installation costs down and allow at least some element of DIY installation. Not saying people should be able to connect into the consumer unit, etc unless qualified - it would kill the insurance anyway.