Free Electricity for Energy firms - they don't have to pay you for your excess Solar Power

[JohnD]

that's not quite right.

the meter doesn't run backwards, there is a separate meter to show what is generated.

If the customer uses power that is generated, it is free

Whatever he draws from the grid is charged at the usual price.

Whatever he doesn't use gets exported to the grid, and an assumption is made that he exports half of what is generated.

he gets a payment for whatever is generated, and a payment for what is exported (if not metered, it is assumed to be half).

I don't know the current rates, but they keep going down. Last time I calculated, it was not really a profitable proposition, unless you had thousands of pounds lying around that you had no other use for, and didn't want to invest, spend, or put into your pension. Once you've spent the money it's gone, so you can no longer treat it as a nest egg for unexpected expenses.

It seems to me that it may be worthwhile to have a rooftop array that is not connected to the grid (this should cost less) if you can make use of the power for heating your swimming pool or charging your electric car.

Much less is generated during winter months, with short days, a low sun, and more cloud. So it's not much use for heating.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

The plumber's pensioner mum in her badly-insulated flat with no gas supply, has to pay more than her prosperous son in his well-insulated, draught-free home with gas UFH.

And as there is a proven link between being in fuel poverty and premature deaths for people like her, increasing he fuel bills and thus deepening her poverty will tend to bring about her premature death.

People who want FITs for solar panels on their roof want poor old people to die to fund their vanity project.

 

[StephenStephen]

Solar PV does seem to still just about pay for itself - bearing in mind that panels are much cheaper than they were, last longer than they used to, and that buying in electricity costs are only going to go up, and it is possible to use PV to heat your hot water (either directly with an immersion heater or energy multipled up through an air source heat pump powered by the PV.
It looks like home battery storage is going to become more common - either using the car battery as a house battery, or having a separate house battery.

 

[JohnD]

electricity costs are only going to go up

are they?

it is possible to use PV to heat your hot water

possible, yes, but if you had a gas boiler, why would you?

 

[StephenStephen]

are they?
Well yes, I take your point in that eventually we're likely to move towards more energy efficiency and cheaper renewables, but given our current dependence on fossil fuels and foreign imports, and given the year on year increase we are currently seeing, then for the lifespan of a solar PV system i do think it's reasonable to say that the price of electricity coming into homes is only going to go up.


possible, yes, but if you had a gas boiler, why would you?

Because it would be absurd to burn gas to heat water when you can heat it with sunshine

 

[JohnD]

do you know what it costs to heat water, per day, with gas?

Do you know what it costs to buy and install a solar immersion controller?

I do.

 

[StephenStephen]

are they?

EDIT - sorry - technical error here - didn't intend to put words in your mouth!

Well I take the point that eventually energy efficiency and increasingly cheap renewables could mean electricity pricing not continuing to rise, but given the current dependence on fossil fuels and foreign imports, and the current trend of home electricity cost rises, it seems unrealistic to think they won't rise during the lifetime of a solar PV system installed now.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

are they?
Well I take the point that eventually energy efficiency and increasingly cheap renewables could mean electricity pricing not continuing to rise, but given the current dependence on fossil fuels and foreign imports, and the current trend of home electricity cost rises, it seems unrelistic to think they won't rise during the lifetime of a solar PV system installed now.

But he didn't.

 

[StephenStephen]

do you know what it costs to heat water, per day, with gas?

Do you know what it costs to buy and install a solar immersion controller?

I do.

Yes, I think I have a good enough idea of those costs, and and would expect to be financially ahead in the long term with a system like this. It's complex of course - there are a number of variables such as the effect on the boiler's longevity of not firing up on some days in the summer, for example, or the differing length of time you might expect the different power diverters to last, as well, of course, as all the vagaries of solar PV - shading, location, size of system, etc etc.

 

[StephenStephen]

But he didn't.

Thanks - Oops - (I've now edited my post)

 

[motorbiking]

Solar Immersion controllers run at about £250. However, if you have an old Meter on your house, you are already able to use the grid as a battery, as the meter unwinds, when you export.

If future PV deals wont include an export tariff then excess export goes in to the grid, generation companies will need to produce less. But energy retailers wont necessarily pocket the savings.

A typical home installation wont need a Tesla Powewall as I doubt the excess export would ever exceed more than 5-6kw a day. You could buy a 3-4kw UPS used for £500 and it wouldn't need much to rig a timer and input controller so that you'd burn down your stored power before buying from the grid.

I think you could do it for under £1k