Hi - we've just had our solar panels installed & have the inverter & battery in the cellar : it is going through the commissioning / calibration process as I type
my question - is there a newbie forum / thread to pick up the basics? so much on here seems to be expert level!
many thanks
KM Try the GivEnergy youtube videos as a starting point, e.g. https://youtu.be/oChIkOkpf2I
geoffreycoan
thanks - I'm not sure they are mentioned in the info we've had so far from Octopus: this is exactly what a newbie needs signposting
KM Hi, welcome to the forum. I guess you could tell us a little about your system, then we can all give conflicting opionions and suggestions on how to proceed :-;
There's a knowledge base at https://kb.givenergy.cloud/category.php with various random bits of information.
I assume you have a smartmeter - I think one of those would almost certainly be required to measure exported power. Which energy tariff are you on? Octopus have several interesting tariffs that allow you to save money - there is no single best one, depends entirely on circumstances. (Whether you have an EV, or heat pump. Size of battery relative to daily consumption. How techie you want to get...)
thanks DD
we have 11 x 405W solar panels installed last week
we have a GIV-Bat 9.5KwH battery and a GivEnergy Hybrid 3.6 Gen 3 3.600kW Inverter
installed in the cellar: all so new we still have the scaffolding up
the system has been commissioned today and the battery has gone through its charging up and slowly discharging process: we're presently using the stored energy
we have bought this all through our Octopus supplier and intend to move to one of their tariffs where we fill up the battery overnight then use solar as far as possible in the day before releasing battery power to the grid when demand peaks - not sure which tariff makes that easiest
is this all too simplistic?
all help very graefully received
thanks
kevin
sorry - no heat pump, no EV as yet - probably the next car wil be an EV
houisehold of two mainly but with children . grandchildren living here form time to time
we only bought th ehouse last spring so new proven pattern of usage yet - we have had family living with us for some months while they have bulding work done so recent data willbe atypical of usual use
KM we still have the scaffolding up
Worth checking the panels are all straight while that's still there. We also had panels done by Octopus, and unfortunately one had sunk down a little (in towards the roof), but we didn't notice until the scaffolding was taken down. Would have been so much simpler to get it tightened up if I'd noticed in time. (Have now had it sorted.)
(I dont mean to imply that Octopus are likely to make a habit of this sort of thing.)
good idea - will do!
KM I would also suggest that whilst the scaffolding is up, now is a perfect time to check the gutters are clean and draining properly, re-aligning any that need it, and to jet wash the moss off the roof. I did that when I had my scaffolding up.
Unfortunately my jet wash broke half way through so by the time I’d bought a replacement the panels were up and I had to jetwash round the panels. Then wash the panels again as they were then covered in moss debris!
Oh, and when you wash the panels off, good idea to turn them off at the inverter first. Water and electrical generation = electric shock if you touch them …
In terms of tariff it very much depends on what your daily consumption is vs your battery size. Probably Octopus Flux will be best as it pays a decent export rate and is reasonably cheap overnight.
Generally it’s not worth charging the battery overnight unless it’s going to be a dull day next day and you’ll grid import. Especially on Flux as the overnight charge rate is the same as the daytime export rate, so let the battery fill the next day with solar rather than pre-fill overnight and export early - once inverter losses are included, it’s not worth it.
You will need to have an export meter number allocated by your electricity distributor (DNO). This can take a couple of months so worth getting it in chain as soon as possible.
Assume you have a smart meter. If not, get that swapped first !
geoffreycoan You will need to have an export meter number allocated by your electricity distributor (DNO).
I think is done via your energy supplier, rather than going direct to the DNO yourself. Because Octopus are both your installer (who registers your system with DNO) and your energy supplier, it might happen automatically. But they are different divisions within Octopus, so no guarantee.
DD Yes it is definitely done by your energy supplier who approach your DNO for the export MPAN when you apply for an export tariff.
And then in my case the DNO replied with questions that Octopus never responded to, my application got stuck, I contacted Octopus and then the DNO to find out what the issue was, resolved the issue with the DNO, they gave me the MPAN then I gave it to Octopus to speed up the process…..
But this isn’t the correct route. Apply for an export tariff via your electricity supplier. You’ll need the MCS certificate for the solar panel installation and the DNO approval letter that your solar panel installer should have (either before or after installation depending on what type of approval was sought)
By the time you get MCS certificate and MPAN sorted we should be getting more solar. I think Flux will be the best tariff. Just make sure your battery has enough juice that it doesn't run out during the peak time. On sunny days you won't need to charge overnight, but on dull days it may be worth putting some in - may be up to 70-80% full just to make sure you don't run out in the peak time. Later in the year, when we get more sun you won't need to bother as solar will fill the battery during the day and this will carry you over the peak period. Also, consider switching to a variable direct debit, as you don't know what your electricity consumption will be now that you have panels, and this will prevent you building up huge credit, as your ordinary DD will be based on pre-solar usage.
If you're currently on a flat rate tariff then now is the time to have a play around with settings and (if you're inclined) givTCP/HA etc.
Reason is you aren't going to incur extra costs because you messed up a setting/automation.
Have a play around now is my advice. When things go haywire then reset to defaults on the portal.
Strongly recommend that you get the Octo Compare app which is available for iOS and MacOS (if relevant to you). It allows you to set any 2 tariffs (incl. non-Octo tariffs) and provided you have a Smart meter will show you a side-by-side comparison of your costs on those 2 tariffs looking back over the last week and month.
I only discovered this app at the end of December but it showed I could make savings of 50% if I moved from Flexible to Agile. I have a 14kW ASHP and am quite a high user but my bill for January (2000kWh) on Agile was c.£300.
KM The good news is unless you want to get really involved assuming your system is installed correctly you can just leave it alone for the most part to get on with its job.
You can do just that or potentially have a winter and summer setup to your system but even then for the most part once you have set it up to cope with the season it can be left to do its thing.
Otherwise, read around the forum and visit the knowledge base. There are also some useful videos on youtube if you search for Givenergy.
downfield Strongly recommend that you get the Octo Compare app
No... The problem is that it simply shows you what it would have cost on a different tariff, but doesn't make any adjustments based on how you would change your behaviour to suit the other tariff. Eg if you are currently on a flat tariff, makes no difference to you if you use lots of peak-time power. But then if you compare with agile or flux, it will show them in a very bad light.
What you could do is first adjust your behaviour to use the cheaper hours, then after a few days, ask which tariff would have been cheaper.
DD You're correct, it only models your current consumption pattern with a new tariff which may or may not be representative of how you might use a different tariff. But its a useful indicator.
I believe if you use the Pro version of Octo Compare you can move your load around in the app to improve the quality of the forecast.
Other option is to download your consumption from the Octopus account and hack around with different scenarios in a spreadsheet
DD but doesn't make any adjustments based on how you would change your behaviour to suit the other tariff.
I didn't say that it did make adjustments. But I did say that my usage was fairly even throughout the day / night - charging batteries at night - and so the savings for me were significant.
Also not everyone wants to change their usage behaviour.
wow - I hadn't realised how many helpful replies we'd had - having been away for a few days over half term: thanks everyone - will read these & digest
we have applied for the flux tariff as it seemed to be the best starting point - and we're awaiting the DNO figure
looking at the rates, I had thought that filling the battery overnight then selling back to octopus at peak times wa the obvious starting point
but I take the point that a pattern of our consumption over a few weeks might be the best baseline to judge all other changes against
thanks again
kevin
KM looking at the rates, I had thought that filling the battery overnight then selling back to octopus at peak times wa the obvious starting point
For Flux, if your solar generation during the day is sufficient to run your house and charge your batteries then its not worth charging overnight (unless the next day forecast is for cloud and limited solar generation). You can of course still charge overnight and let the excess solar be exported during the day, but the overnight import and the day-time export rates are so close, and after losses are included, its actually going to lose you money to do this.
If your battery storage is greater than your evening house consumption then its definitely worth exporting the excess in the Flux peak period and receiving the extra income.
The rest depends on how much solar generation you have, what your battery charge rate is, and how much you consume during the day.
My system is slightly smaller than yours (3.7 kWh), have the same battery, and an AC 3.0 inverter. Just the 2 of us in the house. I have the Eco 7 tariff, have the system set to charge in the cheap period, & ECO is set which as I understand it takes power from the battery first. Whilst our pattern of usage hasn’t changed drastically the costs are much reduced. No idea about using export as I am on original FIT so don’t wish to change the export part of that (I know I could).
In summer the system generally charges during daytime, unless it’s really dull days) so I do adjust the charge settings to the amount I think (e.g. say 50%) if it is going to be dull. This is where the GivTCP/HA systems mentioned above can automate some of this activity.
I would suggest moving to a tariff that you think will work & see how it goes, and get used to the system. You can then adjust things once you understand more.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions here, really helpful contributors.
idrobbo No idea about using export as I am on original FIT so don’t wish to change the export part of that (I know I could).
Yes if you’re low usage a battery is a great pairing with Economy 7. You’ll be consuming a much higher percentage of your electricity on the cheaper rate.
R/e FIT export or not. Just suggest you do your sums to see whether its worthwhile keeping the deemed export or not. I had extra panels fitted last year so that changed the equation for me, I was receiving about £100 a year in FIT export payments which I gave up in August, but in the period August to end December I received £333 in Flux export payments. Over the full year I think it’ll be a lot more beneficial for me to receive export payments.
By the way, one thing I didn’t know, when I gave up my FIT export payments I had to sign a revised FIT agreement, turns out that if you have a smart meter fitted then you are supposed to give up deemed export and move onto measured export. Its in the T’s & C’s on the Ofgem website as well.
When my system was first installed I used ECO7 and flexible Agile for the winter months. It worked pretty well, and I clawed back money spent on importing by exporting during the Agile peak hours (about 4.30 to 6.30). But cos I'm not a techie I had to set this up each day and remember to put the system back to ECO (dynamic) mode after exporting. In April I switched to Flux. By then there was quite a bit of solar so I didn't really need to top up from the grid, and just let it do it's thing all summer. In the summer months, when it doesn't get dark until late you may find that you fill your battery early and actually automatically export during the peak period. Super simple and no faffing around changing settings. This year I stayed on Flux all through the winter, but because it has been such horrid weather with little sun I have had to top the battery up from the grid during the off peak period. In December I filled to 100% every night, but as the days get longer and there is more sun you can gradually reduce the overnight charging - on an average day in feb I can get away with charging to about 80% on sunny days much less. You need to play around with the amount you charge versus what you use from your battery in the evening. If you get it right you can balance it so that overnight charge plus predicted solar input equals your battery usage + baseline usage.
geoffreycoan
Thanks for this, I had a quick look some time ago & yes I think I could benefit but I’m happy to leave alone for now. Will look into T&Cs.
thank you all for this VERY helpful advice
we're still awaiting our MPAN number / identity / whatever so we're ot on Flux yet
I think in year 1 we will follow the simplest route of flux tariff so we have a baseline to experiment against in years 2
onwards
I am intrigued by all the various permutations - fill overnight or fill by sunshine; use our own generated power or sell back to the grid at peak time and use later in the evening as far as possible: it feels a little like solving a Rubik cube
we will post here form time to time as we get going
thanks again
kevin
this looks terrifying!
KM we're still awaiting our MPAN number / identity / whatever so we're ot on Flux yet
Octopus should be able to put you on the import part of Flux quite quickly as that’s just a matter of registering your smart meter on their systems. The export part then takes time, about 6-8 weeks.
But at least you can start getting some of the benefits of Flux straight away
geoffreycoan
thanks Geoffrey - I'll follow up with Octopus tomorrow
kevin