Experimental PV calculator

[sharpener]

My feeling is about the same, based on 6 months of having only 1x 5kWh battery with Solar PV. There is a lot of time where the battery is full and exporting, but then the battery is empty the following morning. Also the discharge rate of 2.5kW is not enough to run things like a kettle fully.

I have now fitted a 2nd 5kWh battery and it seems to have made a huge difference - in May so far I have inly imported <10kWh and usage is well over 90%, even though we have had less PV generation on average compared to April.

FWIW our experience is much the same. Originally fitted 7.1 kW, charging this from PV was fine but not leaving enough for the immersion diverter. Also not enough storage to run the electric cooker at breakfast time without cheap rate top-up.

So added nearly as much PV again, also added third battery module to make the figures below. Would agree this is a sweet spot; is enough to keep the lights on all evening in winter with a bit to spare and in summer to survive on PV alone. Won't increase capacity any further, heat pump will have to fend for itself, though I am contemplating 200 litre thermal store to charge up from E7 before the heat demand begins in the morning. Subjec to what I can get an installer to agree to, may have to DIY or retrofit.

[LesNewell]

Won't increase capacity any further, heat pump will have to fend for itself, though I am contemplating 200 litre thermal store to charge up from E7 before the heat demand begins in the morning.

Would you be better off charging the battery a bit from E7 then using that to run the heat pump instead of adding a thermal store? That's assuming you are running an air to water heat pump.
Just out of interest, what sort of export tariff are you on?

[sharpener]

Won't increase capacity any further, heat pump will have to fend for itself, though I am contemplating 200 litre thermal store to charge up from E7 before the heat demand begins in the morning.

Would you be better off charging the battery a bit from E7 then using that to run the heat pump instead of adding a thermal store? That's assuming you are running an air to water heat pump.

Will do both if I can. If I need a buffer tank anyway then marginal cost/kWh of increasing it to 200 l is quite small, also there is a physical limitation on height of battery stack where it is atm.

Just out of interest, what sort of export tariff are you on?

Original FIT dating from Dec 2011 just before it was cut. CBA to sort out separate SEG for 2022 panels, metering difficult as they are on DC side, and would need a smart meter in addition which SP say cannot be made to work in our location.

[openspaceman]

Original FIT dating from Dec 2011 just before it was cut. CBA to sort out separate SEG for 2022 panels, metering difficult as they are on DC side, and would need a smart meter in addition which SP say cannot be made to work in our location.

Same here but I am just considering getting off the deemed export register and moving to Octopus for a higher SEG, has anyone here successfully managed this without compromising the original FIT? How difficult was it?

[Fintray]

Original FIT dating from Dec 2011 just before it was cut. CBA to sort out separate SEG for 2022 panels, metering difficult as they are on DC side, and would need a smart meter in addition which SP say cannot be made to work in our location.

Same here but I am just considering getting off the deemed export register and moving to Octopus for a higher SEG, has anyone here successfully managed this without compromising the original FIT? How difficult was it?

I was already an Octopus customer but my FIT was with SSE, I contacted Octopus to get my export swapped over to them (FIT payments are still with SSE now OVO) to get the better SEG payments and it was very quick and simple.

[sharpener]

Original FIT dating from Dec 2011 just before it was cut. CBA to sort out separate SEG for 2022 panels, metering difficult as they are on DC side, and would need a smart meter in addition which SP say cannot be made to work in our location.

Same here but I am just considering getting off the deemed export register and moving to Octopus for a higher SEG, has anyone here successfully managed this without compromising the original FIT? How difficult was it?

I was already an Octopus customer but my FIT was with SSE, I contacted Octopus to get my export swapped over to them (FIT payments are still with SSE now OVO) to get the better SEG payments and it was very quick and simple.

How is your metering arranged? If you have a FIT meter does that power also get counted by the smart meter and then have to be subtracted again, as I posted here https://camelot-forum.co.uk/phpBB3/view ... 757#p32757. [Mods please delete one if you wish.]

[Fintray]

The power from both my systems goes through the smart meter and all export (and import) is currently on the Flux tariff, there is no deduction of the readings from the FIT's generation meter.

[sharpener]

The power from both my systems goes through the smart meter and all export (and import) is currently on the Flux tariff, there is no deduction of the readings from the FIT's generation meter.

Thanks. So you now get SEG payments from Octopus for all exports, and FIT generation payments - but not export payments - from Ovo/SSE for the original FIT system, is that how it works?

How do they know you are no longer entitled to the export portion, deemed or otherwise?

What I was told about difficulty in metering the export from DC-connected generation appears to have been wrong then.

[openspaceman]

The power from both my systems goes through the smart meter and all export (and import) is currently on the Flux tariff, there is no deduction of the readings from the FIT's generation meter.

Presumably 3p gets deducted from the 50% that would have been deemed export?

[Fintray]

The power from both my systems goes through the smart meter and all export (and import) is currently on the Flux tariff, there is no deduction of the readings from the FIT's generation meter.

1. Thanks. So you now get SEG payments from Octopus for all exports, and FIT generation payments - but not export payments - from Ovo/SSE for the original FIT system, is that how it works?

2. How do they know you are no longer entitled to the export portion, deemed or otherwise?

3. What I was told about difficulty in metering the export from DC-connected generation appears to have been wrong then.

1. Yes, that is correct.
2. Octopus contacted SSE and told them I was moving my export to them.
3. Both my systems are AC connected, so I don't know about how DC generation would be counted.