Solar & battery tariffs and how to get best export rates?

iamcurious

Im contemplating a 10 panel solar pv, 15kwh battery and 5kwh hybrid inverter. Ive got my quotes and researched the component parts so am not looking for comments that 'you're better using this make' etc, etc. Ive no intention of getting a heat pump and getting an EV is very unlikely. As Im nearing 70, the faster the payback the better imho!

What really confuses me is getting the right tariff for solar export and import. Im currently with Octopus but they seem to have closed their best solar & battery tariffs for existing and new customers due to 'volitile' electricity prices. The available tariff now only allows 3 hours cheap overnight rates.

Nearly every other Supplier only pays a decent export rate if they installed your solar \ battery else you're on 4p or 6p per kwh export.

Im also aware of Axle Energy who will pay £1 per kwh when the grid needs support at relevant times. Apparently this works at the same time as your existing import \ export tariff.

Discounting the Supplier's tariffs that are only available where they installed the solar etc, can anyone explain how you can have a separate export tariff (an SEG tariff?) with a different supplier to the one who you have an import and export tariff with or, can you have an import tariff with one supplier and an export with another?

Alternatively, setting out a blank sheet of paper so to speak, what's the best process for determining how to decide what's the best tariff to take on?

Having worked in IT, Im tech savvy so tweaking controls rather than leaving everything to some 'AI' to get best payback does not worry me.

Thanks all.

Netexporter

As you are tech savvy you could "go to the source" and use Octopus Agile for import and their equivalent wholesale-price linked export tariff. You could use the Home Assistant app, via a Raspberry Pi to automatically arbitrage between lowest import rates and highest export rates. You can also incorporate other data, such as weather forecasts and any rules about your own consumption needs. Should keep you occupied for hours!

There's a Youtube channel called Speak to the Geek, which is a good primer for creating home automations via Home Assistant, and I'm sure there are many more.

NedS

Alternatively, setting out a blank sheet of paper so to speak, what's the best process for determining how to decide what's the best tariff to take on?

A good starting point would be the tool Tim and Kat have created which seeks to work out the best tariff, month on month:

https://timandkatsgreenwalk.co.uk/

Knowing your usage/generation profile (your solar generation profile can be accurately predicted using tools such as pvgis) will enable you to analyse multiple tariff options to figure out which is (currently) best for you. You can exclude tariffs such as IOF which are currently unavailable and include your own as custom rates if you are considering tariffs from other suppliers not directly supported by the tool.

Tim and Kat have a YouTube channel (Tim and Kat's Green Walk) which contains lots of videos with Tim walking you through how to use the tool and it's various options.

Hope that helps.

Netexporter

I'd entirely agree, normally, but many of the tariffs are unavailable, for the foreseeable future, to new sign ups. However a home made version of Intelligent Flux could be made with the help of Home Assistant, if one is tech inclined.

NedS

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81974687#Comment_81974687

I think it depends on the exact makeup of your excess solar and storage. If you have sufficient usage and storage that you can use/store solar generation all day, and only (or predominantly) export between 4-7pm, then you should be able to achieve rates above the current 12p SEG rate. But if you have significantly more excess generation than you can use or store for later export, then the daytime export rates are significantly lower than the current SEG rates and you may well be better off on standard fixed SEG export at 12p. As always, it's horses for courses and will depend on individual circumstances.

For us, fixed SEG looks better than Agile Outgoing as we are still going to export more during the day than during the peak rate window. An automated Agile Outgoing setup may be better for those with a higher ratio of storage to generation.

iamcurious

Apologies for not replying to my OP, I forgot all about this thread due to the process of getting solar & battery installed.

Since my OP, we've had our solar & battery installed. Im very pleased with the performance from the Longi Hi Mo 485w panels and 14.4kwh Alpha ESS battery. I would say with more knowledge, I'd have gone for a bigger inverter, say 8kwh rather than the 5kwh but hey ho.

Solar & battery tariffs are a mare. Octopus, our supplier, has closed it's best paying tariff to new and existing customers. I signed up to Octopus Outgoing and the Charge Pack while retaining a standard import tariff. Reason for this being I reasoned during the summer, the solar would power the house and keep the battery topped up.

I'll have to find a better import tariff rate wise now the sun is less. What I find annoying if you want to change supplier from Octopus to say Eon Next, you have to transfer to a standard tariff and wait up to 2 weeks(!) before they confirm all your paperwork for your install \ DNO authorisation.

I am not that impressed with Charge Pack as this totally surrenders control of your battery to Octopus. Yes, it's still in Beta (they say).

I'm a bit wary of Agile as you could end up paying some hefty import rates and, when analysing the export rates, the average is not much different to standard export rate of 12p pkwh.

HomeAssistant means splaffing another 100 quid or so if you dont want to build a Pi to run it. As we don't have anything other than solar \ battery as 'smart' devices, Im not convinced it is worth the extra?

debitcardmayhem

HomeAssistant means splaffing another 100 quid or so if you dont want to build a Pi to run it. As we don't have anything other than solar \ battery as 'smart' devices, Im not convinced it is worth the extra?

Not necessarily, I run home assistant on a Windows 11 mini pc which I use for other stuff , I run it under Virtualbox no extra cost to me

ed110220

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82128317#Comment_82128317

How about asking if you can switch to Octopus Go if you're able to minimise non off peak imports? I'm on Go for imports (8.63p/kWh 00:30-05:30) and Outgoing for exports (12p/kWh). We hardly import anything at the non off peak rate of 31.17p, basically just the result of the inverter not getting the import perfectly at zero when it's running off the battery. We recently got an EV but I was on Go for more than a year before then, Octopus never asked if I had one when I asked to switch to the tariff.

iamcurious

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82128405#Comment_82128405

Correct but a bit pedantic. You need to be familiar with creating a virtual environment on a PC. I don't use Windoz as my OS either.

Nothing is impossible but Ive got other things to do than figure out creating additional environmental stuff.

iamcurious

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82129216#Comment_82129216

Interesting! But aren't you supposed to have an EV to be on OG (Oh I see you managed to stay on the tariff before getting an EV.)?

I know some have managed to sign up to the tariff although Octopus could kick you off it if you didn't confirm your EV details and back bill you?

Although I love the Renault 4, 5 and a few other EVs, being retired and not awash with money, we couldn't afford one. Plus the new eVED starts at £200 a year. Our current ICE costs just £20 a year so the economics do not support it.

I'm not into buying Used high mileage vehicles so hoping I win the lottery, LOL!