Solar PV and Smart meters

[flameport]

I fully expect the next move to be a £100 "surcharge" for those with old meters

That will not be happening.

What will happen and is already happening is that those who insist on sticking with old meters will pay a fixed high rate where all of the units are the same high price all of the time.
Those with smart meters have a selection of cheaper tariffs to choose from including those specifically designed to be used with solar, batteries and other devices.

 

[JohnW2]

I'd be surprised if they could do that.

Indeed. For a start, I presume that Ofcom (and their 'caps') would not allow that.

However, as I've said, the day will presumably come when not (physically) having a 'Smart' meter would mean 'no electricity supply. I suppose there would be the possibility of 'dissenters' having 'Smart' meters physically installed, but with the comms functionality omitted or disabled, but there would then be the issue of the cost of ('unnecessarily') having to send out 'meter readers', at least occasionally.

 

[JohnW2]

What will happen and is already happening is that those who insist on sticking with old meters will pay a fixed high rate where all of the units are the same high price all of the time.

True, but as you say, that's already happening, yet some people seem to be accepting that higher electricity cost as the price they have to pay for (for whatever reason) not wanting a 'Smart' meter.

 

[StephenStephen]

Most people with solar get 2 payments:

- Generation payment, which will be a certain pence/kWh
This is unaffected by the type of meter

-Export payment which will be a different amount/kWh

To work out what the situation is, and how it might change, it would be useful for you to look at:

-Is the solar install MCS certified?

-Do you currently get export payments?
-Are you currently on deemed export?

-What export rate/kWh do you get paid?
This is the crucial question! If it's less than about 15p/kWh you'd likely be better off on a metered export rate (flux for example)

-What proportion of your solar generation do you think you currently use in the house? (Do you use a solar hot water diverter?)

-Less crucially, but still useful, what direction do your solar panels face?

I can't remember if the installation of a smart meter forces a change (from deemed export at the current FIT rate to a metered export rate) but the company who pay your FIT payments (EDF?) should be able to answer that question.

It's worth being aware that moving from deemed export to metered export is a one way move - there's no going back.

If you're not getting FIT export payments, and you have an account with Octopus, you'll almost certainly be better off to have a smart meter and set up an export tariff.

 

[ericmark]

The generated numbers go to EDF and they pay me for FIT.

Which will continue unless you decide to change that arrangement.

Seems you have the answer.

Since FIT no longer an option with new solar installations, it is hard to get info on the old system. There are a lot of changes in how export is paid for newer installations, including the use of a battery.

The off-peak system does require a smart meter, but much depends on your average use, and size if any of the battery.
If I look at my own solar installation, I have 6kW of panels and 6.4 kWh storage, and I use between 10 and 14 kWh most days, as shown here.

This means I need around 6 kWh of solar production to be able to use off-peak and solar only, and not use the more expensive peak rate.

It is all well and good for me to say what the smart meter does for me, but that does not mean it will help for you. The off-peak only really helps me because of the battery. It helps more in the winter to summer, even with no solar at all, it means half my electric is at 8.5p and half at 30.17p so average around 20p/kWh.

But if I take what I produced with 6 kW of panels, then 3.5 kW would be around 7.5 kWh and without a battery only some of that will reduce the daytime use. I can use the off-peak in the day this shows how I am storing off-peak to use latter, without that, I am not sure if off-peak will pay for its self?

It's worth being aware that moving from deemed export to metered export is a one way move - there's no going back.

This is my worry, for me, it was simple, I am far better off with a smart meter as without it no payment for export, but for you not so cut and dried. Some of the early FIT payments were silly, often they were paying more than they were charging.

 

[ericmark]

I know I can't get FiT, but I looked into it. You can also switch from your FiT export rate to a Smart Export Guarantee export tariff, potentially earning hundreds of pounds more per year without giving up your FiT generation tariff. More on that below. I only have Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) so don't get as much, and the FiT rates did vary from 2010 to 2019 when the scheme ran, so installation date does matter.

The inverters and panels have improved, and now I have a back-up system as part of the solar, and batteries.

It would be interesting to hear how your system works.

 

[StephenStephen]

It's good to stay clear between FIT generation payments and FIT export payments.

FIT generation payments are unaffected by meter type.

If you're not getting FIT export payments then you lose nothing by moving to a smart meter.

If you are getting FIT export payments, then you need to look at what export rate you're getting/kWh, whether it is deemed export or metered export, and what rate you'd get on an export tariff.

For example - when we had the solar installed, we had a FIT export rate of something like 5p/kWh and deemed export (ie; assuming we exported 50% of what we generated)

We now export most of what we generate, on the flux export tariff at 10p/kWh till 4pm, 29p/kWh after 4pm

Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) rates are generally quite low - you're likely to be able get a better rate.

(Install batteries to shift export to peak time or/and have west facing panels and you can shift more export to high paying peak time)