Octopus Agile Vs Go?

katie279 · 14 May 2022 at 16:43

Hi all,

Getting 7.2kwh solar installed in the next month or so with 19kwh of batteries.

Currently with Octopus on a variable tariff, but will want to move to Agile or Go.

Any advice on whether to go with Octopus Go or Octopus Agile? Can't work out which would be cheapest!

Simon · 14 May 2022 at 19:24

What sort of rate can you charge the batteries at?

katie279 · 14 May 2022 at 19:43

They're the new Givenergy 9.5kw batteries (2 of them) with a 5kw inverter - so assuming it'll be 5kw?

sparkymark75 · 14 May 2022 at 20:15

I’m not sure if they check or not but you’re supposed to have an EV for the Go tariff.

silversurfer · 14 May 2022 at 20:56

Get a toy electric car or mobility vehicle scooter people have and cry discrimination if they object

Journey · 14 May 2022 at 21:01

katie279 said:
Any advice on whether to go with Octopus Go or Octopus Agile? Can't work out which would be cheapest!

Utterly impossible to work out, as Agile prices vary half hourly every single day they are different. You can take a educated guess once you have some stats from your PV install.

katie279 · 14 May 2022 at 21:04

sparkymark75 said:
I’m not sure if they check or not but you’re supposed to have an EV for the Go tariff.

Yeah, have one so should be sorted!

katie279 · 14 May 2022 at 21:05

Journey said:
Utterly impossible to work out, as Agile prices vary half hourly every single day they are different. You can take a educated guess once you have some stats from your PV install.

Hmm that's kinda annoying....!

Yeah, wonder if I can download any historic data for last six months and try and model both options...

sparkymark75 · 14 May 2022 at 21:11

katie279 said:
Hmm that's kinda annoying....!

Yeah, wonder if I can download any historic data for last six months and try and model both options...

Try the n3rgy website, you might be able to download your meter readings from there.

n3rgy data - accessing smart energy data

data.n3rgy.com

Or your current supplier might give you the option to download your usage.

katie279 · 14 May 2022 at 21:15

Oooooh! Sparkymark's just made my night! I love a dataload and a good old API!

Will have lots of fun with this!

sparkymark75 · 14 May 2022 at 21:19

Just noticed you’re actually with Octopus already. You should be able to download your usage from them directly.

You can also use Guy Lipmans site to access it as he uses the Octopus API.

Smart Meter Reports

katie279 · 14 May 2022 at 21:23

Ooh even better - downloading as we speak!

katie279 · 14 May 2022 at 21:24

PS thank you very much! My excitement got ahead of my politeness!

Journey · 14 May 2022 at 21:26

It's not usage data really you need, historical Agile pricing data is almost useless right now. You need to look at the outgoing prices if anything, but you also need to see how much you can send out (at a higher rate) vs take back (at a lower rate). The SEG isn't fixed with Agile, and it totally uncapped, so you can be paid £2 kWh or more if things go crazy like last year.

silversurfer · 14 May 2022 at 21:31

That sounds awesome potentially, some people barely use any electric at times. Is it good advice to go solar and agile on that basis then, for an octopus customer now

katie279 · 15 May 2022 at 14:32

Yes, I'm plotting using home assistant to smart charge my battery too - ie if it drops below 5p, then charge at 5kwh regardless of time. If it goes above 20p then switch house to use battery over grid and so on...!

Simon · 15 May 2022 at 14:50

I guess you don’t want to always charge it though otherwise your Excess solar has no where to go. And free is cheaper then 5p

Journey · 15 May 2022 at 15:07

katie279 said:
Yes, I'm plotting using home assistant to smart charge my battery too - ie if it drops below 5p, then charge at 5kwh regardless of time. If it goes above 20p then switch house to use battery over grid and so on...!

It can be beneficial to dump your whole battery (almost) out at peak times, even if that means paying for some of your evening electricity as you will on average being paying less per kWh to buy it back. You just need to work out your heavy load hours, but if you look at your region data it will help.

It's amazing how much data there is to analyse, I''ve spent way to much time looking at it but I feel like I am way more informed now. Still gathering data though, so I can look at changing again in the near future.

katie279 · 19 May 2022 at 07:07

Journey said:
It can be beneficial to dump your whole battery (almost) out at peak times, even if that means paying for some of your evening electricity as you will on average being paying less per kWh to buy it back. You just need to work out your heavy load hours, but if you look at your region data it will help.

It's amazing how much data there is to analyse, I''ve spent way to much time looking at it but I feel like I am way more informed now. Still gathering data though, so I can look at changing again in the near future.

Heheh, yes, do remember doing a bit on grid management at uni (electrical engineering) so loving this idea of running our own powerplants!

Should be getting installed in 5-6 weeks or so, although batteries will be a bit later in the year as gone with the brand new ones!