However, I thought would have a chat with the folks at Octopus to see what I might need to do to sell back power from my batteries.
My DNO UK Power has already agreed that I can push 6kWh back into the grid from my battery system should I have the surplus power to do so.
Octopus's claims of not requiring MCS certification at the back of last year appear to be a bit of hot air and some beta setup IF you pay £250.
I asked to move to one of the export tariffs should I go on holiday and have surplus solar (Not likely this summer !!), the request generated some automated responses namely, asking for my MCS approval. I dont have AC solar so its only going to come from my DC batteries right now, I provided my certificate for UK Power networks G99 but that resulted in a bounce back by a human suggesting it wasn't the MCS document they needed.
I mentioned the Octopus no longer requiring MCS certification and they responded by saying that it was by invite only but I could join a waiting list for £250 quid. Now with a couple of panels at the moment I'd never get the cash back ever not to mention the ongoing MCS costs.
So I thought it over and said stuff it, I'll skip for now and keep my own power to myself.
I got to thinking - What exactly does MCS certification get me? It seems like a health and safety exercise which is a bit like closing the gate after the horse has bolted for all those systems built like mine that didn't need MCS. If its this important why dont they just mandate that ANY solar needs to be MCS approved?.
I've also read that Octopus has riled up some of the suppliers by this move, the 3rd parties have put people through MCS approval courses/training, I understand that, it does seems odd that our surplus energy is now not going to go back to the grid due to seemingly more bureaucracy.
This seems a bit self defeating although I would imaging the annual renewal of an MCS certificate is a nice little earner for some companies.
I'm now tempted to add a few more batteries to capture when I generate and be done with it.
The good news is the ground mount Solar Charger is now installed and waiting for me to buy some panels after I build the green leanto shed kids play area thingy.
![Image](https://i.postimg.cc/vgj5tvwB/Screenshot-2024-06-18-at-15-44-25.png)
After a nightmare month for things to break; our 25 year old fridge gave up the ghost, there was no point keeping the matching freezer that we got at the same time (Likely that it wouldnt be far behind the fridge) and we've had to replace them with a large combination fridge/freezer and is rather more efficient. Overnight I'm seeing lows of 130w low to 275-300w high. I reckon its saved me half a batteries worth per day.
Back to reviewing the design and see how much cash I have left after the most recent install So I can start to chop my hedge back!!.