Hi, New to this. I am waiting for my export tarrif to be finalised. I have been trying to find out how to export to grid but not getting anywhere. The only App I have is the one that came with the system. I have looked in all the options but can't find out how to set up export. Sorry this is such a basic question but I have this new system and have no idea how to work with it.
A friend asked me that same question only the other day.
Once you have your Export MPAN number and your electricity supplier has finished their part which can take several weeks, any surplus solar power generated will just go back to the grid without any intervention from you, in fact it's probably going back to the grid right now but you're just not getting paid for it yet. You could check your smart meter export -A or on the GivEnergy App to see where your power is going.
If you have a battery then there are several extra steps to take and set-up if you want to export from the battery to the grid at certain times of the day and you will want to look at different tariffs to find one that best fits your lifestyle, but for now until you have the export tariff set it's a waiting game.
Cby Hi, welcome to the forum.
Are you running the app on Android or iOS ? I think the interfaces are different between the two. You can also use the web portal to configure it. (That gives access to more functionality.)
What sort of system do you have (hybrid, AIO, ...), and what tariff do you (plan to) have ?
DD Thanks for replying. I feel incredibly stupid I cannot tell you what type of system I have. How can I tell? I don't know what the web portal is, is that the GivEnergy App. I am using Android
Just to explain. All through quote process I asked how I would control the system I was told the App would do everything for me. System was installed, they downloaded an App on my phone and they were gone. I really have not got a clue what I am doing. I have got 3 x 5k batteries, a 5K inverter and 8 Trina panels.
Cby I have signed up to Agile fixed export
Thanks
Cby Don't worry, we all have to start somewhere.
You might want to have a look around the "knowledge base" at https://kb.givenergy.cloud/category.php
It's not terribly complete, but it's somewhere to start. The 'end user management' section has an app user guide and a welcome guide.
Your installer should have created an account for you at https://givenergy.cloud/ which is "the (web) portal". If you have a username/password for the app, it's probably the same ?
If you have a single inverter for both panels and batteries, it's probably a hybrid inverter. There should be a sticker on the side giving details.
Cby I have signed up to Agile fixed export
Agile is the opposite of fixed ;-) (Agile price varies every 30 minutes.) I'm guessing perhaps it's agile for import, and fixed for export ? Which might mean you want to charge the battery from grid overnight. There's all sorts of fancy things you can do to optimise prices, such as using solar forecasting to decide how much to charge the battery overnight, and looking for the very cheapest of the overnight 30-minute slots for charging, but for now I probably wouldn't worry about those too much - assuming it's generally relatively cheap all night is probably good enough to start with.
The main thing on agile import is to avoid using the grid between 4pm and 7pm when it's most expensive.
As DD say's we all have to start somewhere, it can be a steep learning curve from scratch, especially getting used to and understanding different terminology.
I have seven friends who have solar on their homes and some have never touched anything for years. Three friends don't have any app to look at because their systems are quite old but they are on the fantastic Feed In Tariff so all they do is send a meter reading now and then, one friend only discovered she could see what her system was doing after I asked for details to compare with mine, two others have similar systems to mine but without batteries and one is off grid with massive batteries. All different systems and performances.
It can be as simple as fit and forget, in other words let your system do it's basic job during the day of
1st supplying your house with solar power and then
2nd filling your batteries then
3rd sending surplus electricity to the grid,
at night time the batteries will take over and supply your home with electricity until they run out and then the system will draw power from the grid if needed until solar takes again over the next day,
It will do all of the above and in that order of preference without you doing anything.
It all really depends how much you want to get involved with your shiny new system.
I'm new to all this solar electrickery stuff, I only had our system installed in December 2023, I enjoy the data and comparisons and I have tried a few things that the kind people on this forum have suggested but I'm not at the home assistant level yet.
For now I'm just pleased that since the end of January I haven't had an electricity bill and since February the electricity sold back to the grid has covered our gas bill too.
I have one 9.5 kWh battery, a 5kW hybrid inverter and 20x Longi panels totaling 8.2 kWp
I also had the same level of instructions from my installer, (zero)
Edit:
I'm on octopus flux for electricity and tracker for gas