Solar panels and battery - any real world recommendations?
- Thread starter GinG
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What's the general thinking on force exporting the battery in regards to the effect on battery life? I'm now on Eon's Drive tariff (6.7p import 0:00-07:00, and 16.5p export at all times), so I have been considering setting up a routine to discharge any remaining charge in my battery at the end of the day before the cheap charging period starts, so making just under 10p per unit for any spare.
Is that worth doing or does the impact on the battery life counter the extra earning? The battery is an 8.2KWh GivEnergy battery. I'm guessing maybe that although the battery life may be shortened, it also increases the speed at which you recoup the cost, so maybe over the total life of the battery it evens out anyway.
Is that worth doing or does the impact on the battery life counter the extra earning? The battery is an 8.2KWh GivEnergy battery. I'm guessing maybe that although the battery life may be shortened, it also increases the speed at which you recoup the cost, so maybe over the total life of the battery it evens out anyway.
Your last point basically summarises it. Batteries also have calendar aging so they will degrade regardless of whether you use it or not so best to get the most out of it early.
Cycling once per day also isn’t that significant of usage and by the time it’s done, far better systems will be on the market for less money than you paid for that one.
Just in the last year prices have come down a good 20% or so.
Cycling once per day also isn’t that significant of usage and by the time it’s done, far better systems will be on the market for less money than you paid for that one.
Just in the last year prices have come down a good 20% or so.
Soldato
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Yeah pretty much.
Battery life degrades on use and over time.
You really want to ensure you make your money back within the 10 years that most have as the warranty period.
GE do have a limit in regards number of charges / discharges from memory but its something like 1.33x per day over 10 years.
Your going to be hard pushed to manage that on use cases.
Just for reference, I had a quote from a company a few days ago (couple of pages back in this thread) that was for 16 panels, Fox 6Kw Inverter, bird blocker and Fox 10.36kwh battery for £9K all-in. The big companies aren't the best in terms of pricing for sure.
Got my install going as we speak. 10kwh battery, 6kw inverter with 18 panels (10 on front, 8 on back due to shape of house). Looking forward to being able to make use of this sun!
Got a heat pump being installed shortly, too, so should offset the extra electricity we use.
Trying to weigh up, based on how our energy use will shift with the heat pump what I’m best switching to in terms of tariff that will offer the best savings vs not having to change how we live. I wfh. Any ideas?
Got a heat pump being installed shortly, too, so should offset the extra electricity we use.
Trying to weigh up, based on how our energy use will shift with the heat pump what I’m best switching to in terms of tariff that will offer the best savings vs not having to change how we live. I wfh. Any ideas?
Time of use is the only sensible option.
On Octopus you want to be on Go between March November and Cosy from November to March.
The precise cut off date depends on your usage and generation but it will be around that point. Just remember, some peak time usage on Go is fine, you don’t want to switch to Cosy until your average import rate goes above 12p/kwh. I stayed in Intelligent Go (compatible charger or car needed) and it was cheaper for me than going on cosy but I have a bit more battery than you do.
(Edit: My average import cost in December and January was under 10p/kwh despite the heat pump on a few days hitting >25 kwh use for the day.)
Go has 5 hours cheap overnight and 15p export. Charge your battery to full daily and maximise your exports, heat your hot water overnight. You ‘need’ an EV, there are no checks.
Cosy as 3 short periods through the day where you can charge your battery for 12p so you shouldn’t ever use the peak rates. Also heat your hot water overnight but you can also top it up during the day for cheap if needed.
Other providers have similar tariffs except Ovo here it’s only the energy car or heat pump uses which is cheap, not your whole house.
Edit2: The benefits of octopus is you can switch tariff every 30 days, other providers like Eon are more restrictive.
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Soldato
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Not sure on Octopus or Ovo, but I know that Eon subcontract at least some (but probably all) their installs as my installer said they had all branded gear they needed to wear to Eon jobs.
Apparently the EON stuff would turn up palleted, and they "just installed it".
You couldn't change anything or do anything outside the specifics of the job sheet (Eon people would do the survey), so it led to far less than optimal installs he said.
When you think about it the installers must be making a chunk or else they wouldn't do it.
So your just IMO adding another 10-20% for the "pleasure" of dealing with Eon.
Wouldn't be surprised if they are all the same, acting as a semi pointless middle man.
Wow, thanks for such a great in depth and write up @b0rn2sk8 - that’s incredibly helpful. I’ll have a look deeper into it this evening so I can hopefully switch pretty bang on when everything goes live.
You’ve saved me so much time in research, I have a tendency to go down so many rabbit holes, I may actually avoid that with this!
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if you're an octopus customer then stay on octopus
if you're not an octopus customer then either switch to octopus or to eon
if you just want a "set and forget system", then eon next drive is actually a superior product compared to octopus go
both longer off-peak hours (7 vs 5) and better SEG payments (16.5p vs 15p) on eon drive next than any of octopus' products
(i use eon next drive)
Soldato
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Keep an eye on agile.
I switched from Go to Agile for the summer last year and it was significantly cheaper on agile. regularly there were sessions where elec was so cheap (or negative) that I heated my water with elec instead of gas for most of the summer.
I've got a megaflow tank which is well insulated like a modern heat pump one and heating ever other day in the summer is fine. You tend to use a lot less hot water as the incoming mains is that much warmer so you use less hot to get a decent temp shower anyway.
Takes a little more work to integrate and gain most from, but its cheaper assuming this summer works out like the last.
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I completely agree other than the poster also has a heat pump so being on Eon Drive over December and January could demolish any savings you make over the rest of the year. The combination of Go and Cosy could work out cheaper despite having higher headline rates.
This is one of those, ‘you really need some data and a spreadsheet’ to make an informed decision situations.
I’m not sure how easy it is to switch tariffs with Eon, they have a pumped tariff that is similar to cosy but has 2 12p periods rather than 3. With Octopus you can switch online in your account page every 30 days with no penalty and the changes takes immediate effect.
How does that work with EON?
I've not seen the eon tariff that is the equivalent of cosy, so can't directly comment for that one.
However, with next drive there is no exit fee and all they ask is "advance warning" before you switch, so in theory can switch as many times and as often as one wants
Ah fair enough didn't see that the poster had a heat pump as well.
Since the Eon tariffs are fixed for a year its not a simple switch like Octopus non fixed rates, they do have a good whatsapp messaging service though so it should be easy to switch. Personally I switched to Eon last month and they are pretty responsive on there. The apps are not as polished as Octopus versions but benefit for me is the tariffs are fixed for a year giving much greater certainty over future rates and of course for those of us without an EV they are more accommodating and the export rate is better.
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Yeh I’m tempted to switch now a lot of the monetary benefits of being on Octopus have been eroded and I managed to get through the winter just fine on the EV tariff without spending a silly amount on peak rate electric although I did game it a little by plugging in at 7am a few times to get slots at 10:30-11.
Saving sessions - ****
Off peak rates - not as good
Standard off peak time - not as good
Export rates - not as good
Eon’s approach to export payments - urgh, it’s not 2002 anymore, just credit my account monthly like you debit my account monthly for what I use…
Saving sessions - ****
Off peak rates - not as good
Standard off peak time - not as good
Export rates - not as good
Eon’s approach to export payments - urgh, it’s not 2002 anymore, just credit my account monthly like you debit my account monthly for what I use…
Yes. You can message them to setup quarterly payments and they pay it into your bank but you have to send a reading.
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Definitely archaic but it's nice to see 450 quid in the bank account pop up lol (or a grand in your case
)It takes 2mins to snap the pic and send the email, so nothing too taxing
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