Solar panels….?

[ebikeerwidnes]

Because of the lack of smart meter data my app is telling me that I've used far more energy than the previous month as the reference from the old " dumb " meters are showing as zero. I see some people with home batteries are exporting during the saving period as apparently this is being counted in this seasons settings.

Yes - that is possible this year
I am using Hugo - who can;t do that just yet - if I used EDF - who are my supplier - then I could but my batteries are not that big so the amount I would make means it isn;t worth it for me - yet!

 

[Buck]

There‘s a saving session tonight 5£6pm so have set my battery to export for this.

I got paid over £20 for the last two session so might get near a £8-10 payment on this one.

 

[Tenkaykev]

Octopus are saying £2.25 per kWh for tonight. It's the first time I'm going to try forced export from the Battery. In theory I can export 6kW in the hour sso I'll see what happens.

 

[Buck]

Definitely worth it. Im exporting now @ 3.6kWh

 

[Tenkaykev]

Definitely worth it. Im exporting now @ 3.6kWh

I'm putting out 5.83kW, battery is down to 31% which will easily take us through to 02:00 and the cheap flux import tariff.

 

[Buck]

Nice. Your AIO has a higher output than my inverter!

 

[Tenkaykev]

Nice. Your AIO has a higher output than my inverter!

It's rated at 6kWh charge / discharge and about 7kWh for 30 seconds. Second time I've joined a session and first time using the battery. As it's a comparitively new Smart meter installation, they don't have the historical data to compare my change in usage. The first session i got 8 Octopoints, the princely sum of 1p 😁 With this evenings session It was interesting to see that the battery was looking after the house load first and sending the remainder of the 6kW to the grid.

 

[cougie uk]

Definitely worth it. Im exporting now @ 3.6kWh

How are you exporting in the dark ? Have I missed a trick?

And I'm sulking now as Octopus didn't invite me tonight.

 

[Alex321]

How are you exporting in the dark ? Have I missed a trick?

And I'm sulking now as Octopus didn't invite me tonight.

It depends on how your system is set up, but if it is set up "right", you can tell it to export from the battery. Most of the time, unless your battery is charged enough to reach the next daylight, you won't be paid as much for that as you pay for the extra you need to import.

But these saver sessions are different.

 

[MrGrumpy]

Don’t make much. In these as limited to a max of 3.6kW reality is that, it’s a busy house and I ain’t switching everything off for an hour . So export what I can and use the reaming battery for other stuff at same time .

 

[cougie uk]

It depends on how your system is set up, but if it is set up "right", you can tell it to export from the battery. Most of the time, unless your battery is charged enough to reach the next daylight, you won't be paid as much for that as you pay for the extra you need to import.

But these saver sessions are different.

Ah I get you. I guess I'd have to program the inverter and I'd probably not bother for what it's worth.

 

[Tenkaykev]

It depends on how your system is set up, but if it is set up "right", you can tell it to export from the battery. Most of the time, unless your battery is charged enough to reach the next daylight, you won't be paid as much for that as you pay for the extra you need to import.

But these saver sessions are different.

With " Flux " you can fill up your batttery between 02:00 and 05:00 for 16.51p per kWh. After that the regular price is 27.51p per kWh but between 16:00 and 19:00 that rises to 27.51p per kwh.
The same time window 02:00 to 05:00 sees Octopus only paying 5.1p per kWh for export, but after that they pay 16.51p per kWh for the rest of the day which rises to 27.51p per kWh between 16:00 and 19:00.
So it's possible to " game " the system. That of course depends on the size of your battery, and any solar input during the day makes it much easier.

 

[Buck]

Ah I get you. I guess I'd have to program the inverter and I'd probably not bother for what it's worth.

Yes, you have to tell the inverter to discharge.

Small beans but they all add up at over £2 kWh on these specific sessions which are not “normal” export.

Edit: The session in the last week or so I have received over £20 credit. All for two minutes of changing settings.

 

[cougie uk]

Yes, you have to tell the inverter to discharge.

Small beans but they all add up at over £2 kWh on these specific sessions which are not “normal” export.

Edit: The session in the last week or so I have received over £20 credit. All for two minutes of changing settings.

Blimey.

 

[chris-suffolk]

With " Flux " you can fill up your batttery between 02:00 and 05:00 for 16.51p per kWh. After that the regular price is 27.51p per kWh but between 16:00 and 19:00 that rises to 27.51p per kwh.
The same time window 02:00 to 05:00 sees Octopus only paying 5.1p per kWh for export, but after that they pay 16.51p per kWh for the rest of the day which rises to 27.51p per kWh between 16:00 and 19:00.
So it's possible to " game " the system. That of course depends on the size of your battery, and any solar input during the day makes it much easier.

You can do the same with an EV, which obviously has quite large capacity battery. Charge overnight at low rate, export during the day at a high rate, and repeat.