Outgoing Octopus How does it work

noideawhatsoever

We have solar panels with battery, and ASHP put in by our Housing Association which is great. We switched to Octopus fixed 12m last year to enable us to then apply for the Outgoing Octopus. Eventually got our MCS certificate and DNO approval and applied for Outgoing Octopus. Haven’t heard anything back yet only been a week.
We thought this tariff was suitable for us, we’re not vey techy and didn’t want to have to be mucking about with battery discharges and setting times. But now we are wondering how the heck it actually works. We WANT to use our battery not dump everything back into the grid. So how does it work?

debitcardmayhem

Simply , battery full export kicks in, if you want to more timed export, but how big are your panels and battery …. then we can explain better.

paradigital

What brand battery and inverter do you have, and have you got control (via app or directly on the device itself) of the work mode and schedule that it’s in?

With our set up we simply have the battery scheduled to charge overnight (octopus go) and during the on peak hours to prioritise self-use from solar/battery, charging from solar excess, and finally exporting to grid (which only happens if the battery is full).

With this setup (and a 10.5kwh usable battery capacity), we average 7.8p/kwh over 12 months for import.

Qyburn

It depends on your system but normally the default behaviour will be your use as first priority. Then if panels produce more than you're using the surplus charges the battery. Only once the battery is full does surplus start to be exported.

You own consumption would use solar power first, then if that's insufficient it will draw from the battery, then finally only draw from the grid as last resort.

QrizB

Eventually got our MCS certificate and DNO approval and applied for Outgoing Octopus. Haven’t heard anything back yet only been a week.

Getting mine set up took 2-3 weeks. There were a couple of emails along the way, so if you haven't heard anything at all after a fortnight it might be worth contacting Octopus for a progress report.

But now we are wondering how the heck it actually works. We WANT to use our battery not dump everything back into the grid. So how does it work?

Qyburn has outlined the basics above. When the sun shines on your panels, they make electricity. Assuming a "standard" setup for your battery, this electricity will first be used to offset any household consumption, then any surplus will be used to charge your battery. Any extra (that you're not using, and that your battery can't accept) will be exported to the grid. This exported electricity is what you'll be paid for with Outgoing Octopus.

Your smart meter will be measuring the exported electricity, even though you're not currently being paid for it. If you can tell us what make and model your smart meter is, we can help you find the export register reading.

(Note that the UK weather has been so bad recently that you might not have exported very much yet. That will hopefully change as the days get longer and the rain eventually stops!)

Qyburn

Our smart meter, maybe all, started registering export the moment the system was commissioned. Before export MPAN was even created.

noideawhatsoever

Thanks all, we have two boxes outside, a big one says triple power and small one says Solax. 10 Solar panels and I think things are around 5kwh? We have an app to do solar panels/battery and our smart meter is Aclara sgm 1416 b. We haven’t changed anything on app for battery so it’s how it was left with us. What setting would be best for house use first, we don’t charge it up from grid I at least know that for definite.

QrizB

...our smart meter is Aclara sgm 1416 b.

That makes life relatively simple.

If you press button "A" (the left-hand one) repeatedly, the display will cycle through several different screens.

There's one called "total active import" which is your regular meter reading, if you're on a single-rate tariff. Immediately after that you'll see "total active export" which is your export meter reading.

At some time in the near future, when they're close to setting up your export account, Octopus will ask you for the export meter reading (probably as a photo of the meter). "Total active export" is the readings to provide.

If you're not on a single-rate tariff but instead have Economy 7 or similar, you might have the potential to save money but charging your battery overnight. But that's your choice.

HorseWhisperer

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81885553#Comment_81885553

That's a shame that your installers did not give you a full run down on the system, to show you how to use the app, do an inverter reboot etc before they left. Please tell me they showed you how to shut the system down in an emergency (and left printed instructions) 😶 They should really have done all of this, so I suggest you give them/your HA a call and ask them to come back and show you everything you need to know. You will need to know how to set up schedules to force charge and discharge if you want to move to a Time of Use tariff and save more money.

I don't have a the Solax system so can't help you with the settings, but many people do, so someone on here will be happy to help, I'm sure. You should also find the Solax users Facebook group (if you use FB) as you will learn loads about your system from other people, and FB users are great at answering questions - I literally lived on the Fox group for the first three months after install (and for about a month before install so I could gen up ahead of time).

Another FB group which is really useful is Solar & Battery UK https://www.facebook.com/groups/2197329430289466

Good luck!

noideawhatsoever

Thank you, will check out the FB Solax group. We’ve been left all the books to go with installations. But Housing Association are pretty rubbish when it comes to even basic stuff in house. Doubt they’ll have a Solar expert. The company who installed it all basically said it’s all set don’t touch it 🤣 . The one thing we were concerned about was power cuts, we get a fair few out here, the installers said not a problem you don’t have to do anything just leave it. My parents had a planned power cut last week and on their notification letter one of the points was to turn off Solar before it happened. What happens if you don’t ? Power cuts aren’t always planned.

Qyburn

My parents had a planned power cut last week and on their notification letter one of the points was to turn off Solar before it happened. What happens if you don’t ?

The power company are being cautious or over cautious. When the power's off they don't want anything feeding power back to them, possibly energising stuff they're working on. However any compliant solar inverter will shut itself down when it detects a power cut. When power comes back it will monitor for a while before restarting production.

If your system has backup capability there's a further safeguard, it will include some sort of changeover that will positively disconnect from the grid supply (and do some other things like link N and E) before the inverter and battery can run in backup mode.