Solar + EV - switching to Smart Meter & FIT Tariffs

jasonhenley

Hi all,

Long story short

Have Solar since 2013 and on a good FIT Payment
Now have an EV car and need to get an EV charger installed, but need to swap to a Smart Meter.

The electrician has said if I do this, and use the Solar to charge the car at times, I will need to change my export tariff to a newer one.

Is this correct?

TIA

pete-20-11

I'm not 100% sure that's correct. 

Bit confusing though, might need more details from the installer!

The only thing that springs to mind is that if you have a smart meter you may have to move to a form of measured export rather than deemed 50% of generation. 

Reed_Richards

No, it's not at all correct.  On the FIT scheme you are paid the same however much of the solar electricity you use so you are best using as much as you can, to charge your EV for example.

There is a remote possibility that when you get a smart meter you could be asked to switch from deemed export (as now) to metered export.  But it may be that your FIT provider is not the same as your current electricity supplier which would make this less likely.  I haven't been asked to switch since I got a smart meter last September.  

If you get a 7 kW EV charger it's likely that your solar panels won't generate enough to charge your car.  If you use a "granny charger" connected to an normal electrical socket that will draw about 2.4 kW which is likely to be a better match to what your solar panels can provide.  Personally, I believe that unless you need to charge your car quickly then a dedicated 7 kW EV charger is a waste of money.

born_again

Look at this tariff

https://octopus.energy/press/sunny-money-octopus-energy-quadruples-export-rates-for-smart-tariff-customers/

15p kWh export & 7.5p off peak charging. Which also gives daytime charging at off peak rate (whole house use)

No idea on how much you get via fit payments.