Your excess solar generation exported to the grid could attract HMRC interest. However....

Qyburn

noitsnotme said:

According to my Tesla app I generated 6300kWh last year.  Most of it was exported.  I have a 6.72kWp array.

According to Octopus, I exported 7118.35 kWh last year.  At 15p per/kWh that was £1067.75 earned.

The extra export over the solar generation was from excess left in the battery at the end of each day.

So that's not solar power you're exporting, it's power you imported earlier to charge your battery.

Qyburn

greenbee said:

Exactly. I’d also expect that the cost of the investment could be offset against any import - so depreciating the capital investment over 10 years (or maybe over whatever the payback period was supposed to be - which would get complicated where installation has been phased) and only been taxed on any import that meets the ‘excess’ criteria over the depreciation allowance.

Note that the Trading Allowance refers to income, not profit. So if you receive let's say £1,500 but have £600 of allowable expenses, then that would need to be declared.

noitsnotme

Qyburn said:

noitsnotme said:

According to my Tesla app I generated 6300kWh last year.  Most of it was exported.  I have a 6.72kWp array.

According to Octopus, I exported 7118.35 kWh last year.  At 15p per/kWh that was £1067.75 earned.

The extra export over the solar generation was from excess left in the battery at the end of each day.

So that's not solar power you're exporting, it's power you imported earlier to charge your battery.

Not sure how you determined that from my post?  Only maybe 10-15% of my total export was from the battery and imported earlier.

As per the first sentence, most of the 6300 kWh generated from solar was exported.

I have the system set up to export 100% of solar as soon as it is generated.  A very small amount is occasionally used by the system for the house, but that is all automatic.

greenbee

Qyburn said:

greenbee said:

Exactly. I’d also expect that the cost of the investment could be offset against any import - so depreciating the capital investment over 10 years (or maybe over whatever the payback period was supposed to be - which would get complicated where installation has been phased) and only been taxed on any import that meets the ‘excess’ criteria over the depreciation allowance.

Note that the Trading Allowance refers to income, not profit. So if you receive let's say £1,500 but have £600 of allowable expenses, then that would need to be declared.

Good point. Mind you, it also says something about 'intention' to generate more than you use... 

Qyburn

noitsnotme said:

Not sure how you determined that from my post?  Only maybe 10-15% of my total export was from the battery and imported earlier.

As per the first sentence, most of the 6300 kWh generated from solar was exported.

I have the system set up to export 100% of solar as soon as it is generated.  A very small amount is occasionally used by the system for the house, but that is all automatic.

In that case pretty much none is "excess solar generation". It's more as if your solar was standalone purely to create income.

noitsnotme

Qyburn said:

noitsnotme said:

Not sure how you determined that from my post?  Only maybe 10-15% of my total export was from the battery and imported earlier.

As per the first sentence, most of the 6300 kWh generated from solar was exported.

I have the system set up to export 100% of solar as soon as it is generated.  A very small amount is occasionally used by the system for the house, but that is all automatic.

In that case pretty much none is "excess solar generation". It's more as if your solar was standalone purely to create income.

There is currently no point in using solar when I can sell it for 15p/kWh and buy the electricity I use for 7p/kWh by charging the battery overnight on Intelligent Octopus Go.  It hasn’t always been like that and won’t always be.  I didn’t purchase the system with this strategy in mind (I didn’t even know it was possible while it was being installed).  It’s just the result of the current circumstances.

QrizB

noitsnotme said:

There is currently no point in using solar when I can sell it for 15p/kWh and buy the electricity I use for 7p/kWh by charging the battery overnight on Intelligent Octopus Go.  It hasn’t always been like that and won’t always be.  I didn’t purchase the system with this strategy in mind (I didn’t even know it was possible while it was being installed).  It’s just the result of the current circumstances.

And if you choose to do that, you're going to be taxed on whatever youearn above and beyond the trading allowance.

You could equally choose to buy less electricity at 7p and export less at 15p. You'd make slightly less money but you'd avoid the hassles of Self Assessment.

noitsnotme

QrizB said:

noitsnotme said:

There is currently no point in using solar when I can sell it for 15p/kWh and buy the electricity I use for 7p/kWh by charging the battery overnight on Intelligent Octopus Go.  It hasn’t always been like that and won’t always be.  I didn’t purchase the system with this strategy in mind (I didn’t even know it was possible while it was being installed).  It’s just the result of the current circumstances.

And if you choose to do that, you're going to be taxed on whatever youearn above and beyond the trading allowance.

You could equally choose to buy less electricity at 7p and export less at 15p. You'd make slightly less money but you'd avoid the hassles of Self Assessment.

I already do self assessment so no big deal here.

Qyburn

noitsnotme said:

I already do self assessment so no big deal here.

Will you declare it?

noitsnotme

Qyburn said:

noitsnotme said:

I already do self assessment so no big deal here.

Will you declare it?

I’ve emailed Octopus today to add my wife on to the account so we’ll be well within 2 x £1000 trading allowances - nothing to declare moving forward.

For the already submitted last tax return that I might owe an extra £12 of tax on… I’ll take my chances.