Solar and PV - Month 1

[DrFfybes]

So, a month down the road, and things are not going as swimmingly as I'd hoped.

This is more down to Octopus than the system.

I managed to switch swiftly to their Flux Tariff for leccy, but the export didn't kick in for several days. And then the lunchtime of the first day it was active, they changed my meters.

Since then they have got the Import set up lovely with the new meter, took a day or so to synch, but this morning was my third email asking why the export meter still has the old meter serial number attached (and no readings since the changeover). Their response is "we'll look into it and get back to you", which they fail to do.

The gas meter finally went Smart last Thurs, which meant I could finally compare the costs of gas vs leccy for heating the water tank. Sadly when this happened they stopped taking leccy readings, although yesterday the situation was reversed again, and all the smart data for the gas is no longer accessible. {Spoiler Alert, I think leccy is cheaper].

Regarding the system, that started dropping connection to the internet on Saturday. I connected to the inverter and reset the password and it was fine, but drops off again a couple of times a day. I needed a wifi booster to reach the garage where the gubbins are stored, and switching this off and on restores the connection. I expect when I call the installer he will blame the wifi repeater. The good news is that the system seems to store several hours of data, so when it does reconnect it fills in the gaps.

Performance has been good, with a 4kW East/1.2kW West arrangement. We get a great sunset here, however the panels seem to be designed to perform much better when lit from above rather than the side. Alternatively the low sun could be more susceptible to cloud or atmospheric degradation. Output for the 27 days has been 370 kWh, of which we've used 240 and given away 130

The worst day was last Fri when the solid cloud gave a measly 2.2kWh, but other than that there have only been 3 days when it produced less than our consumption (usually 9-11kWh/day) and on one of those the battery filled nearly all the shortfall.

Ignoring the 3 dull days, our import is still about 0.3kWh/day. Again a learning process, the Inverter can produce 2.5kW. So putting the oven on and the sun goes in means a bit of net import, similarly putting the kettle and the oven on together will easily create import. Once we're being paid for export this will become less relevant, but I tend to stagger the oven/kettle/microwave at the moment, just out of principle

I have reduced the Gas HW to 1 x 30 min first thing in the morning, and in the afternoon I wait until the battery is (nearly) full and hit the 30 min boost on the immersion heater. This tends to run only for 10-15 min depending upon what we've used during the day, and as long as the panels are pumping out 1kW (which even watery sunshine will provide) then the battery supplies the rest.

Onwards and onwards I guess.

Paul

[DrFfybes]

A quick update, after contacting Octopus earlier and explaining specifically that I was still showing an export tariff, however the Meter Serial Number attached to it relates to a meter that disappeared off down the road in a van over a fortnight ago, and they'd only updated my Import tariff to the new MSN (shame it wasn't the other way around), Octopus seem to have realised their error and have corrected their records.

I will wait 48 hours to check this is the case, then send them the export data from my Inverter and see if I can get my £12 back for the exported energy since the meter change.

My MPAN is still the same

[funduffer]

Yes, fitting a new smart meter at the same time as installing solar panels was probably always going to cause teething problems.

I fitted my smart meter a few months ahead of my solar for this reason - get the meters running and stable before adding the solar.

All has gone well for nearly 3 years, but now my electricity smart meter has suddenly stopped sending data to Octopus, which is being investigated. The meter is still working as the IHD shows all the data, but somehow Octopus are no longer receiving the data so it must be a data transmission problem. The gas meter data is unaffected.

You are unlucky to have a split east/west roof arrangement as this will reduce your solar output. You are averaging 370/27 = 13.7 kWh per day from a 5.2kW system. I am managing 13.9kWh per day this month from a 4.2kW system that is split between WSW and SSW facing roofs However, you are still getting useful solar energy which looks like it is meeting your needs.

Good Luck going forward

FD

[staffordian]

...but now my electricity smart meter has suddenly stopped sending data to Octopus, which is being investigated. The meter is still working as the IHD shows all the data, but somehow Octopus are no longer receiving the data so it must be a data transmission problem. The gas meter data is unaffected.

Do you have the Bright app (or similar)?

This can help diagnose where the issue is, in that if your data shows there, you can be pretty sure it's an Octopus issue rather than a problem with the Comms from your meter

[funduffer]

...but now my electricity smart meter has suddenly stopped sending data to Octopus, which is being investigated. The meter is still working as the IHD shows all the data, but somehow Octopus are no longer receiving the data so it must be a data transmission problem. The gas meter data is unaffected.

Do you have the Bright app (or similar)?

This can help diagnose where the issue is, in that if your data shows there, you can be pretty sure it's an Octopus issue rather than a problem with the Comms from your meter

Yes I do have the Bright App, and it shows the same problem.

The electricity data cuts off on 22nd June, as it does on the Octopus App, so I think it really is a data transmission problem.

I am somewhat surprised that the Gas data is unaffected, as I thought data from the gas meter was transmitted via the electricity meter, but I may be wrong about that.

FD

[staffordian]

I am somewhat surprised that the Gas data is unaffected, as I thought data from the gas meter was transmitted via the electricity meter, but I may be wrong about that

Yes, that's my understanding. The gas meter uses the local network to transmit data to the hub on the electricity meter then the wide area network sends both to the data gatherer, from where Octopus get it

[BullDog]

Thanks for the interesting updates. I have long considered PV and battery storage but we don't really have a roof that's suitable.

FWIW I have been monitoring my water heating this summer whilst the gas heating has been switched off. The first thing of note is that even though it's 30 years old, the thermostat on the side of the hot water storage cylinder still works perfectly and it reliably switches off the gas boiler when the water temperature hits 60 degrees C. I consistently use 3kw hours of gas to heat the water. Sometimes once per day, sometimes twice per day. So given today's gas tariff is around 7p per unit, a tank of hot water is costing me roughly 22p.

I have a four hour off peak electricity rate that I could use to heat the water. It's about 10p a unit. I conclude it's not worth me paying an electrician to install a timer on my electric immersion heater. I'm continuing to use gas for water heating.

[DrFfybes]

Yes, fitting a new smart meter at the same time as installing solar panels was probably always going to cause teething problems.

I fitted my smart meter a few months ahead of my solar for this reason - get the meters running and stable before adding the solar.

The leccy meter had been working Smart for a while, but the gas one had never been installed correctly by Scottish about 5 years ago. Octopus had said they'd replace it, and coincidentally it was a week after the Solar went in, but when the installer arrived he said he'd upgrade the Smets1 leccy to a Smets2 as well.

Seemed like a good idea at the time.

You are unlucky to have a split east/west roof arrangement as this will reduce your solar output. You are averaging 370/27 = 13.7 kWh per day from a 5.2kW system. I am managing 13.9kWh per day this month from a 4.2kW system that is split between WSW and SSW facing roofs However, you are still getting useful solar energy which looks like it is meeting your needs.

FD

These panels are on the garage, 3 on the West, the rest East as we are the highest point for several miles in that direction. At 7:30 the other evening we were still getting over 1kW from the panels. We have 2 South facing house roof aspects that will take another 10 or so panels but as we're having building works over winter these will be added then and connected to the second inverter input. The illustration for the current system is for 4.6MWh per annum, about 50% more than our annual use.

I really want things to get sorted as then I can get the Flux tariff working for me properly - the import rate 2-5am is about 17.8p, slightly less than the 18.6p daytime export, so I can set the batteries to charge on the cheap leccy. Once the batteries are topped up when the sun rises, any excess is exported at a similar rate to the overnight topup. If it is overcast then the batteries start the day almost full anyway on half price electric. The battery currently (ho ho) lasts overnight until sunrise, so even in winter should last until 2am, which means most of the electricity I import in winter should be at the lower rate. At the moment the battery hits 100% in late afternoon, so most surplus energy is exported in the 4-7pm peak slot which would be at 30.5p/unit.

Paul

[DrFfybes]

So I finally gave up on the emails and phoned Octopus.

They confirmed that the meter installation company had not entered the MSNs correctly, and had neglected to change the export meter. However actually speaking to a human being meant he could tell me that as it had already been entered on the National database, they cannot change it, and instead require the Govt Agency responsible for the database to change it, which can take quite a while. Ironically it was this issue with the Gas meter that prompted me to get them changed

I'm also told the meter itself will retain the 30 min readings for 90 days, and also has a total export reading anyway, so at least it will largely be sorted financially when the correct meter number is on there. I say 'largely' as at the moment much of my export is in the 4-7pm peak, which would be at 30p rather than 15p, but ho hum. According to the meter total export is 90kWh since it was changed, or about a bottle of 1000 Stories

Paul

[88V8]

Thanks for the interesting updates. I have long considered PV and battery storage but we don't really have a roof that's suitable.

If you have a garden, there's this. Although it's not cheap, it looks rather spiffy.

And if you move house, you can take it with you.

V8

[BullDog]

Thanks for the interesting updates. I have long considered PV and battery storage but we don't really have a roof that's suitable.

If you have a garden, there's this. Although it's not cheap, it looks rather spiffy.

And if you move house, you can take it with you.

V8

Well, I have thought about having a garden pergola with PV panels on the top. I would need planning permission though as it's a front/side lawn and wouldn't be permitted development. I don’t think. But it does face due south.

[DrFfybes]

Just to update - last Tues I phoned Octopus and spoke to a real person. I knew it was a real person, as nobody would program an AI with a Geordie accent.

I said I assumed it was in hand, but the email responses seemed a little 'formulaic', explained my import meter appeared to be set up OK, but the MSN for the export meter on their system was the old meter that had gone, and I suggested the data return format might not be correct if their setup was wrong.

He played about a bit and referred it to the relevant team, but also explained the smart meters retain 90 days of data, plus a total figure, so it should all end well eventually.

On Friday I noticed the tariff for export had been corrected to 'Flux', but the meter number was still wrong.

Then, gradually over the weekend, on the phone app and their old data system (but not the new "Project Ada developed one), my half hourly readings started to appear. The meter serial number is still shown as the old one, however they have now managed to import the 30 min import and export data from the new meter all the way back to the day after it was installed.

I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've looked forwards to getting an energy bill

Paul

[servodude]

I knew it was a real person, as nobody would program an AI with a Geordie accent.

Give it time... and call it YI

[GrahamPlatt]

Aspirational… https://karl-voit.at/2023/09/09/our-new-PV/