Is it just me? (Poor solar weather)

[gazza487]

I'm on FiT so I get paid even if nothing is exported.
Not been a bad day, I've generated 20kWh (£4.60 earned), purchased 7 (£1.70), put 8.5 in the car, done 1x dishwasher, 2x washing and cooked Sunday lunch.

Ahhhhh makes perfect sense now. We young whipper snappers without such things

 

[mikgle]

Ahhhhh makes perfect sense now. We young whipper snappers without such things

I am on a FIT too but have decided (maybe wrongly with the poor amount of sunshine we've had this year) to move to an export payment instead, at 15p/kWh. I'm assuming electricity prices and therefore the export rate will rise more quickly than the fit export rate, which is pegged to inflation.

 

[GaryMG4]

I am on a FIT too but have decided (maybe wrongly with the poor amount of sunshine we've had this year) to move to an export payment instead, at 15p/kWh. I'm assuming electricity prices and therefore the export rate will rise more quickly than the fit export rate, which is pegged to inflation.

I'm fortunate enough to be on the 'middle' rate for generation, so currently I get 23/kWh so sticking with it is a no brainer.

 

[Rolfe]

I vaguely remember this experience from 13 months ago. Felt like ages to wait because once you've done thing you have to move on to the next one. Octopus are usually pretty quick with things at least.

Once you've got it this frustrating period will be forgotten.

Has it arrived yet?

Yes, but it was three days later than "at the latest". So I immediately jumped through Octopus's hoops to apply for the tariff. At the end of it all I got a message saying this normally takes about 14 days. So big sigh, and knowing my luck they probably mean 14 working days.

Then while I was away for a week's holiday I noticed something odd in the app, which looked as if I'd been charged over £2 for electricity on a day when the house was empty and there should have been minimal usage. Oh well they'll sort it out, I thought. Then two days later I realised that was actually an export payment to me. It had kicked in only four days after my application.

It's so nice to look at all that export and smile, rather than fuming that I'm not getting paid. And of course I'm having to reverse all my routines, to charge the car and the battery at off-peak rates so that I export as much as possible.

 

[Bam Bam]

Yes, but it was three days later than "at the latest". So I immediately jumped through Octopus's hoops to apply for the tariff. At the end of it all I got a message saying this normally takes about 14 days. So big sigh, and knowing my luck they probably mean 14 working days.

Then while I was away for a week's holiday I noticed something odd in the app, which looked as if I'd been charged over £2 for electricity on a day when the house was empty and there should have been minimal usage. Oh well they'll sort it out, I thought. Then two days later I realised that was actually an export payment to me. It had kicked in only four days after my application.

It's so nice to look at all that export and smile, rather than fuming that I'm not getting paid. And of course I'm having to reverse all my routines, to charge the car and the battery at off-peak rates so that I export as much as possible.

The rollercoaster comes to an end!

 

[Rolfe]

Finally. Three months after the system was installed!

 

[decrep]

Nice to hear Rolfe.

 

[mikgle]

I'm fortunate enough to be on the 'middle' rate for generation, so currently I get 23/kWh so sticking with it is a no brainer.

You keep the generation bit, it's just the export bit is changed, so I now get 15p per unit exported rather than 7.5p per unit of 50% generation.

 

[GaryMG4]

You keep the generation bit, it's just the export bit is changed, so I now get 15p oer unit exported rather than 7.5p per unit of 50% generation.

Interesting, that makes adding a battery more enticing. Does that necessitate a change of meter, mine only registers generation and consumption by the inverter I think? I was hoping that the Octopus home mini would show me what I actually export, but so far it has failed to work for me.

 

[mikgle]

No change of meter, just a long wait for octopus to get a new MPAN number for the export.. you should have a generation meter already. You can look online with either computer or smart phone on your octopus account, I'm not sure if yours will show what you export, your smart meter if you have one probably will. Maybe query octopus about this, how to monitor your export?

Yes, but it was three days later than "at the latest". So I immediately jumped through Octopus's hoops to apply for the tariff. At the end of it all I got a message saying this normally takes about 14 days. So big sigh, and knowing my luck they probably mean 14 working days.

Then while I was away for a week's holiday I noticed something odd in the app, which looked as if I'd been charged over £2 for electricity on a day when the house was empty and there should have been minimal usage. Oh well they'll sort it out, I thought. Then two days later I realised that was actually an export payment to me. It had kicked in only four days after my application.

It's so nice to look at all that export and smile, rather than fuming that I'm not getting paid. And of course I'm having to reverse all my routines, to charge the car and the battery at off-peak rates so that I export as much as possible.

14 days? you were lucky, took octopus nearly 2 months to get my export tariff. I expect theres loads of people applying now and they have to negotiate with your local national grid regional office which is the bit takes the longest, depending on where you are. I'm Exeter area.

 

[Rolfe]

It was actually 4 days. So fair dos to them on this occasion. The problem was getting approved for the G99, then getting an MPAN issued. That's what took the thick end of three months. Once I gave Octopus the MPAN it was quick.

 

[GaryMG4]

No change of meter, just a long wait for octopus to get a new MPAN number for the export.. you should have a generation meter already. You can look online with either computer or smart phone on your octopus account, I'm not sure if yours will show what you export, your smart meter if you have one probably will. Maybe query octopus about this, how to monitor your export?

My smart meter 'knows' and shows realtime export figures on the IHD, I'd like to see the cumulative data just to get an idea of the potential £s involved. I'd hoped the recent Octopus Home mini delivery might make this available but currently it's not working at all. I believe I need to be on IO Go to get 15p so I'd need to factor in a compatible EVSE as well.

 

[mikgle]

Yes that's true.. do you have an evse at the moment?

 

[GaryMG4]

Yes that's true.. do you have an evse at the moment?

Being retired I'm coping quite well with the granny, using my solar excess in the summer and Go in the winter. £1k buys a lot of kWh at the 1.5p difference from Go to IO Go but when the next ICE car gets replaced with an EV the extra convenience may swing it towards a replacement.

 

[STG]

Last few days I have only been able to generate 3.4kWh daily, so bad.

Even the gumpy "I hate EV/Solar" over the road was going out about what a waste I had made then I said to him "oh well, at least I am still paying 50% less than what you are for main electricity" (My batteries get fully topped up during Octopus 2-5am cheap rate) as which point he slumped off again.

 

[Rolfe]

I've had 13-14 kwh most days and 26 kwh on the 4th. I did have a couple of poorer days, 9 and 6 kwh, but today has done 13 already and there's more to come.

Maybe it is just you! (No it isn't, but September has been better for me.)

 

[STG]

At last several days of good clear sunshine at last...Hope it continues as been able to export about 20kWh a day after house battery charged up