Solar, battery, and tariff's

[ericmark]

OK, I have solar panels and a battery, and the British Gas is working well on the import, but not getting anything for export, there is an export tariff offered, but my attempt to fill in the paperwork to get the tariff have failed. Basic they can offer the world, but if one can't get it, then useless.

So I have a tariff of 8.95p per kWh midnight to 5 am, and 31.31p per kWh rest of the time, with a 59.14 per day standing charge. So most days the charge during the off-peak will take me to when solar is producing, and most days I will see the state of charge hit 100% it is in the evening when I run out of battery, yesterday midnight still had 35% left, and in summer no problem. But not getting any export payment.

Now, looking at Octopus Flux, it seems getting payment for export is far easier, and on the 4th April when my BG contract ends, at first glance it would seem best to move and get paid for export, however their off-peak is 2 am to 5 am, and it is unlikely my battery will last to 2 am, most days lasts until midnight, but 2 am is stretching it a bit.

So for import only better off with British Gas, and if I could actually get what BG say they will give, they are far better, but Octopus Flux I am told is easy to set up, no complex paper work.

So as it is, entend to swap, but has anyone got any experance of either?

 

[big-all]

how would british summer time effect the midnight 2am thing ??

 

[ericmark]

how would british summer time effect the midnight 2am thing ??

This has been a problem, so I charge battery 1 am to 5 am, so did not matter. Batteries take around 1.5 hours to charge.

 

[big-all]

i was thinking more the other way round bed time comes an hour sooner so less hours to supply but i assume its the winter months that give the problem but mentioned in case the hour could sway the sums

 

[ericmark]

Because of the payment for export, which I am not getting from British Gas, I will be better off with Octopus Flux.

I would likely be better off with their EV tariff, but to get it, one needs an EV car and charging point, and you have to give Octopus the details. British Gas will give me an EV tariff without details of the EV car and charging point, my EV's are two e-bikes, so I have got a couple of EV's but seems these don't count.

 

[ericmark]

I tried to find out worse case, however the display will only go back so far, so from 16th January which is the limit I can go back, I have found one day 26th January where I ran out of battery at 5 pm, basic that day got no solar, for the days I can view, that seems only one where battery did not last until 7 pm. Looking at December last year

there were quite a few days when solar was awful, but June last year

excellent, so it is a case of taking rough with the smooth.

 

[ericmark]

I did move to Octopus with their EV tariff, very little difference in cost of off-peak and peak to British Gas, 8.50p and 30.51p, 68.34p/day standing charge, but now get paid for export 15p/kWh. As a result, end of April to date, net cost around zero.

I will be paying any day now, the battery does not last until 00:30 so each day this time of year (5th December) I am using some peak electric, I ran out today at 10 pm, with no solar it will run out at around 7 pm, 30th November it lasted until 01:30 next day, when battery started to be charged from off-peak, but most days not enough solar to last out, and it is rare we export at this time of year, last time was 25th November 6.2 kWh, I have considered if worth a third battery, but batteries have a limited life, so not convinced I will get investment back with a third battery.

As to why Octopus offer Flux I don't know, their Go seems far better, but there are two Flux and two Go tariffs, one where you don't give Octopus control the other you allow them to control when batteries are charged and discharged, I have not given them control.

I have been looking at balcony solar panels, and portable batteries, but can't see that for me, they would work out as a gain, the solar and battery means I also have standby power, and it is the standby power which tipped the balance, and means solar panels and battery is well worthwhile.

 

[StephenStephen]

I've not tried either of these, but they may help:

Octopus Compare - Smart Tariff Comparison Tool

Your smart companion for understanding and comparing Octopus Energy tariffs. Get personalized usage analytics, tariff recommendations, and real-time pricing information.

octopus.compare

Compare Cheapest Tariffs | Octoprice

Offers recommendations on the cheapest electricity and gas tariff based on your actual energy usage figures.

www.octopriceuk.app

Or you may find another third party tool online.

I use the OctopusWatch app and do recommend it.

 

[ericmark]

To work out which tariff is best, is near impossible, as our use goes up and down, the solar goes up and down, and I don't want to be a slave of the solar panels and battery. This is a bad day solar wise, and I don't want to be paying an arm and a leg because the battery ran out early in the day, the EV tariff is not that more expensive during the day to standard tariff, so I am not worried if we run out of battery, and we are not having our lives ruled by when electric is cheap.

I am not going to do an Angela Rippon and do my gardening at night, think my neighbours would complain.

I updated the thread, as it was such a huge change from when with British Gas to now being with Octopus, looking at around £50 a month better off due to the export payment. Looking at whole year, December from 2014, 3050.9 kWh exported and at 15p/kWh that equals £457.635 per year for exporting solar.

That is not the whole story as each day charge battery at 8.5p/kWh so this likely saves another £400 per year, can't work out an exact figure as some time's battery still not down to 10% when off-peak kicks in, and we have also used the big three overnight (dishwasher, tumble drier, and washing machine) plus now heat DHW with electric not oil, and I have showed what we exported not what the panels produced, which is 6000.5 kWh for the year, so panels are 6kW so easy to work out what to expect from solar panels. I can say with the batteries £1000 a year plus, but it will not pay for its self in the 7 years the installers said, more like 12 years, allowing for some maintenance.