Solar Panels

[stender]

I inherited solar panels when i bought my house. My energy provider is Scottish power and my FIT contract is with British Gas.
I have no clue on any of this but on my latest cheque is see Generation Tariff price is 22.53p kwhs and export tariff 6.79p kwhs

No idea what these mean but i was told by someone else who has solar that they are with octopus and get 15p export. Can i move as i was also told FIT doesn't exist anymore for new contracts.

Also I was told having solar in addition to earning money i would also have lower bills. My bills went up not down when i moved.

Lastly how do i tell if all my panels are ok?

 

[hllns]

Try to get some stats together for consumption and generation, prices are higher and each house is different so it's difficult to tell if you're comparing like with like unless you do the sums. Is there a display unit for the solar inverter or anything like that?

 

[stender]

inverter is in the garage and has a small led but no idea how to work it. There was a solar pv handset that connected to the solar meter via wifi but it just seemed to collect daily readings and i didnt see the point of having it plugged in all the time. its in a cupboard somewhere

 

[DetlefSchmitz]

Can i move

You can transfer your electricity purchase account to Octopus and leave the FIT agreement with British Gas. To get export payments from Octopus you will need a smart meter. Then it is possible to transfer the export part of your FIT contract to Octopus and I believe 15p fixed is still one of the options.

 

[ericmark]

I had never considered what a new owner could access. I have two meters, one for import and one for export, however neither are smart meters, however the software connected to the inverter gives me the information to my PC.

Only just had them fitted and as yet not sure what it will save me, however I can see what is being transferred.

Only been running for two weeks, so no idea as yet what it will save me, however when one uses power makes a huge difference, seems maximum in/out of battery is around 3.2 kW so showers need to be midday, and tumble dryer needs to start around 10:30 am etc. Not sure it is worth changing my daily routine to gain a few pence? But in the main it is the battery and domestic water heating which allow me to gain power, as a cloud will reduce output so setting some thing off like the dishwasher, washing machine or tumble dryer they need to complete their cycle, so without the battery at some point in the cycle likely we would be importing, only the DHW can alter to only run when there is excess. Does not need to be a big battery, but I have been watching the panels vary 600 watt to 4.5 kW in a very short time, so one could not hope to use only solar power without the battery.

My battery is always discharged to limit set by the morning, and I can't see it paying to have more battery capacity, it is the peaks through the day where it gains most energy for use, we do have a SCARTA type display, but it comes from a server in china so there is a delay, I can make a cup of coffee take it upstairs for my wife, and then view the display and it is still showing the kettle being on.

However without it I would not really know when to switch on tumble dryer on, looking for around 20% on battery before I start the cycle. Had some days where the solar is rather low, but had problems with the DHW to start with, it was switching on at 9 pm which was clearly wrong, and it needed the setting tweaking moving from 100 watt to 200 watt storage offset.

I have phoned the installers a few times to get it all set as I require, I can see that being a problem with a new user who can't phone the installer for advice. I do wonder now after your post how one would get on without the links to the software to show you what is going on. The software I am using was from the inverter manufacturer. It seems I have a dongle in the inverter and I gave the router log in details to the installers, which is also a good point, I need to know how to change setting if I ever change router, didn't consider it until your post.

 

[SpecialK]

With FIT you get paid a deemed export amount which is normally 50% of your generated amount read from the export meter installed with the solar which you get paid at 6.79p/kWh.
You can give up this deemed amount if you have a main meter that can send export readings to your energy company. You can then sign up to an export tariff such as octopus who offer 15p/kWh on some tariffs. Depends how much you actually export? You would need some form of energy monitor to work this out.
You could look at installing an AC coupled battery to absorb the excess and provide it when required.

 

[ericmark]

As @SpecialK says the systems have evolved over the years, at one point early on you were credited with export even if it did not happen, and you were paid more for export than you paid for the power off grid, there was a guaranteed time for this payment, there was also a limit in panel sizes, and as time went on new solar panels did not get this, and in some cases we had rent a roof where the panels did not belong to the home owner.

One of the early methods to get most out of the panels was the iboost unit for the immersion heater that used any excess power to heat water, these also evolved and the iboost+ now does a lot more with control options. But they also allowed one to heat water anyway at set times, so one needs the check how it is set.

The battery is one way to be able to follow a reasonably normal life style and still get the benefits of solar, my EV's are just push bikes, but with cars it seems you can use the car battery to bridge the time gaps between high and low solar output, but a lot depends on the inverter fitted.

The electricians fitting mine said the early inverters will not charge the battery during a power cut, mine will, so my EPS/UPS could keep my freezer and central heating running for weeks with a loss of grid, although no lights etc, but earlier models once battery was discharged that was it.

I would say start point is read what it says on the inverter and then do an internet hunt for the manual.

 

[stender]

Find it all too confusing tbh. I have a normal meter for my electric which I currently pay ScottishPower £300pm and i get quarterly cheque from bg. Highest is current one for summer and is £250. I think the last one for spring was about 150. I have about 16 panels. I moved from a 3 bed to a extended 4 and my bills went up slighlty so i really dont think solar had made a difference to my bill. That was pre ukraine. I went from £110pm to £140 for gas and electric and now £300

 

[ericmark]

I would agree, trying to work out how best to do it is not easy, at the moment my tumble dryer is running, since a heat pump type, the power used is within the power generated by solar, however with old dryer I would have been importing, although clothes would have dried quicker. I also used the delay start on the dryer so it did not start until some power in batteries, old one did not have that feature.

But energy costs when moving house are not always as expected, our oil bill in this house is well below the gas bill in the last house, and the house is a lot larger, went from 3 to 5 bedrooms. Why hard to say, may be because this house has internal doors and last was open plan? But rooms heated to same temperature, and I expected oil to cost more.

I have to admit I do view the usage of electric a lot more now I can do it from phone or PC, and I have started turning things off to try and get further through the night before the battery runs out. As to if worth all the effort not so sure.

 

[SpecialK]

I would agree, trying to work out how best to do it is not easy, at the moment my tumble dryer is running, since a heat pump type, the power used is within the power generated by solar, however with old dryer I would have been importing, although clothes would have dried quicker. I also used the delay start on the dryer so it did not start until some power in batteries, old one did not have that feature.

But energy costs when moving house are not always as expected, our oil bill in this house is well below the gas bill in the last house, and the house is a lot larger, went from 3 to 5 bedrooms. Why hard to say, may be because this house has internal doors and last was open plan? But rooms heated to same temperature, and I expected oil to cost more.

I have to admit I do view the usage of electric a lot more now I can do it from phone or PC, and I have started turning things off to try and get further through the night before the battery runs out. As to if worth all the effort not so sure.

Oh dear, its addictive. Have you started shouting at the clouds yet?

 

[SpecialK]

Find it all too confusing tbh. I have a normal meter for my electric which I currently pay ScottishPower £300pm and i get quarterly cheque from bg. Highest is current one for summer and is £250. I think the last one for spring was about 150. I have about 16 panels. I moved from a 3 bed to a extended 4 and my bills went up slighlty so i really dont think solar had made a difference to my bill. That was pre ukraine. I went from £110pm to £140 for gas and electric and now £300

Only way to work it out is to look into your usage.
If you have a smart meter try the hildrebrant bright app. This can tell you the electric usage logged every 30 minutes by the smart meter.
If its a sunny day pop the high power items on. As ericmark mentioned a solar diverter may be of use or an ac coupled battery but they are expensive. It seems people with smart meters are now being forced over to actual export payments rather than 50% deemed.

 

[DetlefSchmitz]

It seems people with smart meters are now being forced over to actual export payments rather than 50% deemed.

No-one can force you. They can offer deals that are more attractive at present, though you would lose your 50% guarantee.

 

[SpecialK]

No-one can force you. They can offer deals that are more attractive at present, though you would lose your 50% guarantee.

It is in the FIT contract?

 

[SpecialK]

Feed-in Tariffs (FIT) - Payments and tariffs

Tariff rates for the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) scheme.

www.ofgem.gov.uk

"Generators may receive deemed export payments for installations with a capacity of 30 kilowatts or less if an export meter is not fitted. This is where export is estimated as a percentage of the generation meter reading, rather than being based on an export meter reading."

A smart meter is an export meter.

 

[DetlefSchmitz]

They can't take your FIT contract away. And they don't issue them any more. So I don't see where this forcing is coming from.