FIT payments & standard Electric supplier

peteyh

Have moved into a new home that has solar panels installed 2011 which will earn a decent income. Previous owner was with EDF . Looking at market options decided to poss look at 1 yr fixes for energy given current uncertainty for 2025 , EDF not as competitive . So…wondered , can I use one supplier for gas and electric 1 yr fix tariff, and remain with EDF for the solar feed / FIT payments?

or do you have to at least have same supplier for electric both 1yr fix and FIT. simply whoever your supplier is becomes your FIT payer also.

it seems for continuity it’s easier going with EDF as they have all the details of panels? Of which my solicitor did an average effort of getting . So if it’s one supplier only I’m tempted for ease to stick to EDF 

any direction appreciated as finding experts at EDF or British Gas, cheapest fix, has been impossible

thanks 

tim_p

No need to change FIT to match any supplier. You can choose to but no point really unless someone like Octopus would let you relinquish your deemed export entirely and let you go on one of their export tariffs.  

peteyh

So I can get gas and electric from British Gas and have a separate contract with EDF utilising the previous owners agreement ? 

What’s the difference between Deemed export / octopus export tariff? Is the latter better value and how can I enquire if available / beneficial to me…

thanks

tim_p

Yes. FIT payments are separate from supplier. 

FIT comprises two parts, generation which is based on total generation of the array plus the second part which is export. Normal export is based on a deemed amount of 50% of total generation. Can’t remember the figures but in my case (2014 install) the export amount is something like 6p per kWh generated. If you give up the export amount then you will need to get at least 6p per kWh from an export tariff to break even. The amounts will depend on how much you actually use or export. It will vary for everyone. EDF may well, at some point change you from deemed export to metered (needs a smart meter) so a change may be forced upon you irrespective of your choice. 

peteyh

OK great , both BG and EDF said differently but I could tell neither expert was , an expert

OK well have a smart meter for standard gas / electric but I assume you need a seperate smart meter for Solar feed?

And i believe re deemed payments that even if you use 100% of your generated you still get 50% export payments . So I assume best off unmetered if utilising most of your solar energy.

But great info thankyou.

Reed_Richards

peteyh said:

OK well have a smart meter for standard gas / electric but I assume you need a seperate smart meter for Solar feed?

Au contraire, your smart meter should read both your normal import and also your export.  In my case my smart meter display cycles through Date, Time, Import, Export but I understand for other smart meters you need to press buttons to see the export reading.  If you post what model of smart meter you have I bet somebody here can tell you which buttons you need to press.  

peteyh

OK I've tried a all.combo of buttons but I can't find export details....

Ill post images of meter 

In turn if I have EDF for solar / FIT AND BG person For standard how does your Useage get prioritised , ie a sunny day I'm raking in 50kw and I use 45kw how do I know all of that will be solar free energy from EDF and not BG charged ? 

Reed_Richards

kW are a measure of power, your instantaneous solar generation.  In the middle of a sunny day you might be generating 5 kW of power and if you run your immersion heater and your dish washer you might be able to use 4.5 kW in which case your instantaneous export would be 0.5 kW.

The units by which you are charged for your electricity are kWh (kiloWatt hours).  If you use 45 kWh a day you will have a massive electricity bill but let's assume you do.  During the middle of the day you will be generating a lot of solar power and unless the electrical items in you house can use all of it, what can't be used will be exported.  In the evening and into the night you will have little or no solar power so you will have to import electricity and pay for it.  So you might find that you generated 50 kWh of solar energy and used 45 kWh in your house, but because the the timings of your usage you were only able to use 15 kWh of your solar energy, you exported the remaining 35 kWh  and yet still have to pay for 30 kWh of electricity you imported.  If you don't like those ratios, consider getting a battery.    

tim_p

If it’s a 2011 install you should have a separate TGM (total generation meter) somewhere, possibly near the consumer unit, that you will need to read to supply three monthly readings to the FIT supplier. You have had all the transfers etc properly done I assume?
Also, you mention “raking in 50kW” how many panels do you have as to get this from a 2011 install would require almost double what was a typical install from back then. 

Ectophile

If you're claiming FITs, you should have a separate generation meter, which is unlikely to be a smart meter.  That meter is part of your solar installation, and doesn't even belong to the electricity supplier.  Have a hunt around.  It may be somewhere obvious near your consumer unit (fuse box).  It could even be inside the consumer unit.  Or it may be near the inverter.

(The inverter itself may tell you how much it's generated, but that's not a proper calibrated meter.  You should have a separate meter for FIT.)

The actual FIT payments are always based on the generation meter reading.  You should also get export payments.  Export payments could be based on smart meter readings, but are often simply assumed to be 50% of whatever the generation was.

Aauk25

Ectophile said:

If you're claiming FITs, you should have a separate generation meter, which is unlikely to be a smart meter.  That meter is part of your solar installation, and doesn't even belong to the electricity supplier.  Have a hunt around.  It may be somewhere obvious near your consumer unit (fuse box).  It could even be inside the consumer unit.  Or it may be near the inverter.

(The inverter itself may tell you how much it's generated, but that's not a proper calibrated meter.  You should have a separate meter for FIT.)

The actual FIT payments are always based on the generation meter reading.  You should also get export payments.  Export payments could be based on smart meter readings, but are often simply assumed to be 50% of whatever the generation was.

Hi , I also have solar panels from 2014 install and have a separate generation meter. I currently don’t have a smart meter. 

My question is if I get a smart meter installed, do I still use the solar generation meter and submit 3 monthly readings manually?

also currently getting 50% deemed export, will be be automatically changed to actual export due to the smart meter?

if not then can I still keep it as currently deemed 50% export? 

thks