FIT Generation payments stopped because Octopus now pay me for what I Export

SnakeDoctor_2

In 2015 I got some solar panels installed and started getting FIT payments (Generation and Export). At the start of 2023 I got a second set of panels installed and transferred my business to Octopus (supply and FIT). I was led to believe that I would stop getting the FIT Export payments but would still get the Generation payments for what the first set of panels generated. Octopus are now telling me that the Generation payments would also stop. Is this right?

Netexporter

You can change deemed export to SEG and keep FIT payments. I think you may have scuppered the FIT payments by altering the original array.

SnakeDoctor_2

I didn't alter the original array. They still have their own Inverter and meter. The second array have their own Inverter. Both Inverters feed the batteries then any excess is exported to the grid.

QrizB

Octopus's FAQ says:

https://octopus.energy/blog/outgoing-faqs/

Would I still get my FiT payments as well as Outgoing Octopus credit?
Under FiT guidelines, you get paid for being a generator, and paid for whatever you export.
You won’t be able to receive FiT export payments whilst also being on the Outgoing Octopus tariff. However, you will still be able to receive your generation payments. When you sign up to the Outgoing Octopus, you will be required to opt out of your deemed export payments from your existing FiT supplier (but there’s no requirement to switch your FiT contract to Octopus.)

So you should still be able to receive your FIT generation payments.

As others have suggested, this could be due to your additional panels. Exactly how were they added? Are they a completely separate standalone system? Is the original system unaltered?

mmmmikey

I swapped my FIT export payments to Octopus Outgoing and left my generation payments with EDF earlier in the year without any problems. I suspect that there has been and admin mistake and/or it's something to do with the extensions to the system.

pete-20-11

It does sound like you are still eligible for the generation payments on the original installation.

as long as that original installation hasn’t changed and as long as it has its own generation meter, then by the sounds of it, it should be okay. 

Even replacing parts is allowed (should something fail), as long as you don’t remove the entire system. And if say a replacement panel was more powerful, they could pay a proportion of what’s recorded through the generation meter (e.g. account for that growth and deduct something from the payment as a result). So it’s quite flexible these days.

If the old system was just a string inverter connected to the consumer unit/fuse box, with a generation meter in between the inverter and the consumer unit, they should be fine.

where it gets messy is DC from panels to DC batteries - as they have to work out the net generation from the system (taking account of mains charging into the inverter and battery, vs mains out of the inverter and battery and working out the difference to find the generation). Hopefully yours is the simple setup as above, 

Reed_Richards

pete-20-11 said:

where it gets messy is DC from panels to DC batteries - as they have to work out the net generation from the system (taking account of mains charging into the inverter and battery, vs mains out of the inverter and battery and working out the difference to find the generation). Hopefully yours is the simple setup as above, 

I have a system like this and it's not in the slightest bit messy.  "They" don't have to work out the net generation, I read it off a meter and supply the reading to my FIT provider once a quarter.  This meter tells me the difference between what has gone in and what has come out, the actual generation.  If I press buttons I can get the "import" and "export" readings just from the panels and battery, but the default is the difference.

The only slight disadvantage is that I don't get paid for any losses that come from charging and discharging the battery.  If I do that from the solar panels then my actual generation is under-measured.  If I do it from the mains than it looks like negative generation from my solar panels, I suppose.      

pete-20-11

Reed_Richards said:

pete-20-11 said:

where it gets messy is DC from panels to DC batteries - as they have to work out the net generation from the system (taking account of mains charging into the inverter and battery, vs mains out of the inverter and battery and working out the difference to find the generation). Hopefully yours is the simple setup as above, 

I have a system like this and it's not in the slightest bit messy.  "They" don't have to work out the net generation, I read it off a meter and supply the reading to my FIT provider once a quarter.  This meter tells me the difference between what has gone in and what has come out, the actual generation.  If I press buttons I can get the "import" and "export" readings just from the panels and battery, but the default is the difference.

The only slight disadvantage is that I don't get paid for any losses that come from charging and discharging the battery.  If I do that from the solar panels then my actual generation is under-measured.  If I do it from the mains than it looks like negative generation from my solar panels, I suppose.      

Maybe messy was the wrong word. Complicated perhaps.

it’s fine for you, but if someone’s installer doesn’t understand what is needed and doesn’t therefore do what is needed it becomes a problem. 

I suspect it would also depend on who your FIT provider was, as some companies customer service staff are better than others. 

I have seen people have their kit swapped out who haven’t had a net meter installed and get themselves into a mess because of that. They've had to go back to their installer to ask either to rip out the changes and restore what was there before (not ideal!) or get the right meter installed. 

Plus I’ve also heard of installers wiring up the meter the wrong way so things don’t make sense. Again, fixable, but a bit of a headache.