We had our battery system fitted yesterday. I am finding my way through the app and cloud. I need help with how we set up discharge to the grid - do we need to choose provider, get an agreement set up, do anything?
Similarly we would like to set up charging from the grid at cheap rate. We are currently with EDF other standard tariff, do we need to change provider or do we cherry pick a charging deal from whoever alongside EDF.
Hope this makes sense.
you can sign up to export with a different provider to your energy supplier i understand and most people recommend octopus. this assumes you have a smart meter of course as the smart meter sends it's data to a central collection point where any supplier can obtain it.
you will need documentation from your DNO allowing export.
more info here,
https://octopus.energy/help-and-faqs/articles/seg-tariff/
You can set the times you wish to charge your batteries from the app or the web page (portal) at
https://www.givenergy.cloud/dashboard
this is a summary answer , clearly there are more details to digest. sign up with someone for export asap though.
Cerlus As @positor1 says, get all your paperwork in order and sign up ASAP to maximise your opportunity.
A lot of suppliers have Smart Export Guarantee tariffs, some offer more than others. But you can choose to be with a different export supplier to your import supplier, although some do pay more if you're with them for both (e.g. EDF pay 3.0p/kWh for non customers and 5.6p/kWh to existing customers, Octopus can pay you 15p if you're with them and not on Go/Go Faster. Octopus also have Agile Outgoing where the price changes each half hour, I've seen upto £1.79/kWh!)
EDF link: https://www.edfenergy.com/for-home/energy-efficiency/smart-export-tariff
Did you say you are on a standard tariff at the moment? If you have a good fix it may be worth staying with them for import and export, as the EDF SEG is better for existing customers than most other providers. I think the EDF time of use tariff (Economy 7 type) is cheaper than Octopus's Eco 7, but Octopus will pay more for export.
If you go to Octopus you will need your MCS certificate from your installer and the DNO letter (well - it's actually just an email that your installer can forward to you). No one will take you on for SEG without these (some also ask for a copy of the wiring diagram).
If you aren't on one already getting set up with Eco 7 can take a little while. I had to swap to Octopus, go on their standard tariff for a couple of weeks, before they started the move to Eco 7, and it involves a couple of different departments who have to work together to switch your meter over behind the scenes. For me it took about 3 weeks in total and several phone calls (because they thought they had swapped me, but missed out a step so everything wasn't activated when they said it would be). That said - customer service folks are lovely to deal with and everything is running smoothly now. Once you're with them you can swap between different tariffs quite easily.
Some people use Eco 7 in the winter and Octopus Agile incoming in the summer. If you are new to batteries, or just want an easy life - then the Octopus Outgoing fixed rate is a really good deal at 15p. If you are prepared tom manage your usage a bit more and have enough juice left in your battery to see you through the rest of the day, then Octopus Outgoing variable is the way to go. I export for an hour a day (usually between 4.30 and 5.30pm which is the time that gives the best rates. Currently this is around 25p, but at the beginning of December rates were silly money. That way I can cover half the cost of the energy I import overnight at 16p