Anyone have experience of Axle VPP

debitcardmayhem

As the title, does anyone have experience of them?

QrizB

I think there are some Axle users (members?) here as it's been mentioned before, but not me - my battery isn't compatible.

Netexporter

Not directly. The Jonathan Tracey Youtube channel did a year end income/expenditure review recently and he earned about £170 from Axle and I've not heard him say anything bad about them, so I assume it mixes with Octopus tariffs OK.

MWT

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82163963#Comment_82163963

… not with all Octopus tariffs, I seem to recall that IOG is excluded…

https://octopus.energy/help-and-faqs/articles/can-i-sign-my-home-battery-up-to-a-third-party-service-like-axle-energy-while-i-m-on-intelligent-octopus-go/

Netexporter

I think you're right. JT is on Flux (not sure if intelligent or vanilla) at the moment, I think.

pete-20-11

Speak to the Geek has done a few videos on Axel I think.

He released one this morning about the IOG and Axel issue

https://youtu.be/rrn7Sk40Lpo

LukeB_92

No direct experience to add, but before signing a battery up to a third-party virtual power plant service it is worth getting clear answers on a few practical points, as the headline payments are only part of the picture:

Who controls the battery day to day, what minimum charge level is kept back for your own use, and can you override it easily if you need the stored energy yourself?

How much extra cycling will it do, and does that affect the battery or inverter warranty? Extra throughput is not free if it shortens life.

What do you give up to join? As already mentioned above, some intelligent tariffs exclude third-party control, and you may also be giving up a good export rate or off-peak charging arrangement - compare the expected VPP income with what that existing arrangement is worth over a year.

How and when are you paid, is there a minimum term or exit fee, and what happens to control of the battery if the service stops, the internet connection drops, or you move house?

If those answers are in writing and the sums still stack up after the lost tariff benefits, it is a much safer decision than going on the headline rate alone.

debitcardmayhem

Thanks for the replies guys/girls I will come back soon with my detailed thinking, need to make hay this morning the sun is back out.

Netexporter

How much extra cycling will it do, and does that affect the battery or inverter warranty? Extra throughput is not free if it shortens life.

The other way of looking at that is to thrash the battery and earn as much as possible, to bring the ROI forward. The replacement battery, when needed, will be of superior specification and probably relatively cheaper.

QrizB

The other way of looking at that is to thrash the battery and earn as much as possible, to bring the ROI forward.

Exactly this.

Just as an example, if you've spent £4k on a battery with an 8000-cycle life, and each cycle is worth £1 in ROI, if you only cycle it once a day it'll last for 22 years and take 11 years to pay for itself. If you cycle it four times a day it'll last for 5.5 years and pay back in 2.7 years.

Which of these is preferable will depend on why you bought the battery in the first place, but financially the second is more lucrative.

Netexporter

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82164304#Comment_82164304

I'd take the middle road and cycle it twice a day as 5 years, in battery world, would be long enough for a new chemistry to have come to market and become mainstream and affordable.