Solar panels , would you ?

[cliveb]

Are you taking your balance down to 0 or do you leave them a couple of hundreds?

Not sure who that question is for.

I would certainly like to get my balance down to 0, but last time I spoke to Octopus there was a limit to how much they'd let me reduce my DD, despite the fact that it should be obvious that it's too much. Currently about £200 in credit. If things were fair, we'd all be in debt at the end of the winter, then get back to max credit around October.

But none of the energy companies see things like that. Perhaps their business model relies on being able to borrow tons of money from their customers without paying any interest? There's about 28 million households in the UK. If there's an average £100 credit per household (which I suspect is a conservative guess), the industry is effectively managing to borrow nearly £3 billion interest free. But I suppose if it wasn't doing that, we'd all be paying a bit more for our energy.

 

[PJ87]

Are you taking your balance down to 0 or do you leave them a couple of hundreds?

Every April I take the balance down to as low as I can.

Ie the bill goes out 28th march. Direct debit 1st April

But when you ask for money back they only let you take out what is left after the days in between usage has been accounted for

Try to get as near to £0 as I can

Right now I have £114 in there and have made my direct debit £100 for April 1st.. as they wouldn't give me the cash. But that should get me right near to £0 by April then back to £200 DD in may

Build up as much as I can in summer to cover any issues in winter.

 

[PJ87]

Remarkably sunny morning today

Already produced the same kWh (5) that I produced all day yesterday.

Have cooked breakfast for us all, done a tumble and a dishwasher.. the battery is back to full. Exporting now.

Hopefully enough solar to see export all day. That would be good..make some money back. Only need to export 5kwh to cover the standing charges for both electric and gas which is always a good aim.

 

[Mudball]

Remarkably sunny morning today

Already produced the same kWh (5) that I produced all day yesterday.

Have cooked breakfast for us all, done a tumble and a dishwasher.. the battery is back to full. Exporting now.

Hopefully enough solar to see export all day. That would be good..make some money back. Only need to export 5kwh to cover the standing charges for both electric and gas which is always a good aim.

22k generated today… loads of weekend laundry and mulitiple tumble runs… so far exported 2.5k and battery is half

 

[PJ87]

22k generated today… loads of weekend laundry and mulitiple tumble runs… so far exported 2.5k and battery is half

I've produced 15.2kw

The house used 7kw

Battery is 97% full and discharging now (has been in standby most of the day)

And I've exported 6.8kw

So imported 21kw last night at 7.5p standing charge 42p £2 cost

6.8kw at 15p export (£1.02)

So roughly £1 electric costs for the day

 

[Mudball]

I've produced 15.2kw

The house used 7kw

Battery is 97% full and discharging now (has been in standby most of the day)

And I've exported 6.8kw

So imported 21kw last night at 7.5p standing charge 42p £2 cost

6.8kw at 15p export (£1.02)

So roughly £1 electric costs for the day

At this point in time I am using 1.9 of while 0.01 is coming from the grid, rest is a combo of live generation and battery. Both the dryer and washing is on at the mo

In my case, the setup is becoming more cost avoidance rather than pure saving or making money. I am ok with that




So far in March … used £67 of leccy while exporting £10.. I don’t know if the 67 is net of 10 or I am 57. First full month of this tariff and steady state use of the system

 

[PJ87]

At this point in time I am using 1.9 of while 0.01 is coming from the grid, rest is a combo of live generation and battery. Both the dryer and washing is on at the mo

In my case, the setup is becoming more cost avoidance rather than pure saving or making money. I am ok with that

View attachment 52510

My aim is just to not use the grid between 0530-2330

Anything else is a bonus lol

 

[larmen]

We had a bad day, considering the circumstances. What difference 30 miles make.

Nice sun until 9am, then intermittent good spells, but more bad ones. It all cleared up once the sun was just leaving our roof. I guess in the uk the evening weather is better than the morning weather.

Still 11 kWh generated, but could have been so much more.

 

[Mudball]

We had a bad day, considering the circumstances. What difference 30 miles make.

Nice sun until 9am, then intermittent good spells, but more bad ones. It all cleared up once the sun was just leaving our roof. I guess in the uk the evening weather is better than the morning weather.

Still 11 kWh generated, but could have been so much more.

Where did that hail come from?? If we had a sloped roof on the side of the house then I think we would have another 10k on a day like today

 

[PJ87]

figures for last month in, defo sunny days again

billed usage £50.21
export paid to me £8.62
total usage 671.3 kwh
total cost if I didnt have my set up £208.33

savings this month £166.74

year 2 savings thus far £2075

 

[Mudball]

figures for last month in, defo sunny days again

billed usage £50.21
export paid to me £8.62
total usage 671.3 kwh
total cost if I didnt have my set up £208.33

savings this month £166.74

year 2 savings thus far £2075

How r u calculating the saving?

 

[larmen]

I am going to use
Load x price cap - actual billing


Standing charge is a wash and falls out of the equation

 

[PJ87]

How r u calculating the saving?

As larmen says

Total usage x price cap - billed cost

 

[cliveb]

As larmen says

Total usage x price cap - billed cost

You forgot to include (a) capital depreciation of the system components, and (b) loss of interest had you put what you paid for the system in a savings account.

So the savings are not quite as high. But you're still winning, of course.

 

[PJ87]

You forgot to include (a) capital depreciation of the system components, and (b) loss of interest had you put what you paid for the system in a savings account.

So the savings are not quite as high. But you're still winning, of course.

Loss of interest is not included because i got a mortgage to pay for it so it's already in the calculator as I'm paying 2% interest on the loan, it's all in the break even date.

Capital of system? That's just ridiculous as you don't sell solar on. It's not a car.

 

[larmen]

You forgot to include (a) capital depreciation of the system components, and (b) loss of interest had you put what you paid for the system in a savings account.

So the savings are not quite as high. But you're still winning, of course.

I offset that against the value of smugness gained by having the system.

 

[PJ87]

I offset that against the value of smugness gained by having the system.

Never mentioned how much value it adds to your house either

EV chargers for example suppose to add a few k to your house price now

Panels between 4 and 14%

Considering I have a battery aswell let's call it 5%

That's 25k panels paid for

 

[Mudball]

Yesterday.. for the first time I went to bed with a full battery… did not top up overnight .. this morning it is sunny and all is being exported

By 10am
Produced: 7.6k
Exported: 5.6k

#smug

 

[PJ87]

Yesterday.. for the first time I went to bed with a full battery… did not top up overnight .. this morning it is sunny and all is being exported

By 10am
Produced: 7.6k
Exported: 5.6k

#smug

What's your export rate 15p?

 

[cliveb]

Loss of interest is not included because i got a mortgage to pay for it so it's already in the calculator as I'm paying 2% interest on the loan, it's all in the break even date.

Capital of system? That's just ridiculous as you don't sell solar on. It's not a car.

Capital depreciation is about the fact that stuff wears out and eventually needs to be replaced. I appreciate that solar stuff has a healthy lifespan, so the depreciation is low, but it still exists.