Solar panels Vs battery only

[offgridAndy]

Re battery prices. I followed JohnBs' advice and have been in contact with "frogstar". I plan to build a 48 Kw battery using their product. On the face of it this will cost £7200 plus cost of building the racking. If you build a battery youself and pay the VAT on the purchase you will still be street ahead.

 

[Andy1733]

Re battery prices. I followed JohnBs' advice and have been in contact with "frogstar". I plan to build a 48 Kw battery using their product. On the face of it this will cost £7200 plus cost of building the racking. If you build a battery youself and pay the VAT on the purchase you will still be street ahead.

Brilliant idea Andy. Keep us posted on how you get on.

 

[johnb2713]

Brilliant idea Andy. Keep us posted on how you get on.

Aye, please do make a build thread, it's an interesting project.

 

[Andy1733]

Is there any comeback John regarding build quality. Could their be a problem with house insurance in case of fire. I know yours is in the garden away from your property

 

[offgridAndy]

When I get there I will along with carp pictures, usually with my thumb over the lens.

 

[Ucatchmydrift]

Tariff expires at the end of March when it becomes 12p and 36p, I will be moving to utlitita at that point on 5.33p.


No problem, theyre not smart in any way just have a built in battery charger


If youre getting more than one, rent a van and go and collect, price is now £1653 BTW.

I spoke to utilita live chat, they told me yes, its all fine. When i call them up yesterday to switch, they say, if you have an economy 7 meter, we are not taking on new customers, and havent been for a year! All their old gen 1 smart meters went wrong and they are having to replace them all and wont run the risk of new customers smart meters going wrong and having to fix them! That messed my plans up. So sticking with edf for now. 7p kw/h night rate, 54p peak, 39p standing charge. But obviously get 7 hrs to charge batteries. Dont ever use peak rate, but hate that standing charge!

 

[Andy1733]

I spoke to utilita live chat, they told me yes, its all fine. When i call them up yesterday to switch, they say, if you have an economy 7 meter, we are not taking on new customers, and havent been for a year! All their old gen 1 smart meters went wrong and they are having to replace them all and wont run the risk of new customers smart meters going wrong and having to fix them! That messed my plans up. So sticking with edf for now. 7p kw/h night rate, 54p peak, 39p standing charge. But obviously get 7 hrs to charge batteries. Dont ever use peak rate, but hate that standing charge!

My octopus tariff is 12p 1230am -430am. 40p any other time with 50p standing charge.

My old EDF was 33p any time and 39p standing charge.
I calculated my usage from the past year if at 33p would be just over £3000 on leccy. Shocking

 

[Ucatchmydrift]

My octopus tariff is 12p 1230am -430am. 40p any other time with 50p standing charge.

My old EDF was 33p any time and 39p standing charge.
I calculated my usage from the past year if at 33p would be just over £3000 on leccy. Shocking

Could you not change to an economy 7 meter (unless thats the meter you have?) and go back to edf on their new rates? (and assuming you have battery storage and dont use peak rate at all) Unless of course you sell back to the grid?, which you obviously couldn't do with the edf tariff..

 

[johnb2713]

Is there any comeback John regarding build quality. Could their be a problem with house insurance in case of fire. I know yours is in the garden away from your property

I wouldn’t have thought so, I would just say that you have an ‘xx’ kWh battery installed.

 

[johnb2713]

Could you not change to an economy 7 meter (unless thats the meter you have?) and go back to edf on their new rates? (and assuming you have battery storage and dont use peak rate at all) Unless of course you sell back to the grid?, which you obviously couldn't do with the edf tariff..

You can go to any supplier for your export, it doesnt have to be the same as your import supplier.

 

[Ucatchmydrift]

You can go to any supplier for your export, it doesnt have to be the same as your import supplier.

Ahh yes, i forgot about that.. Very handy for some..

 

[johnb2713]

I spoke to utilita live chat, they told me yes, its all fine. When i call them up yesterday to switch, they say, if you have an economy 7 meter, we are not taking on new customers, and havent been for a year! All their old gen 1 smart meters went wrong and they are having to replace them all and wont run the risk of new customers smart meters going wrong and having to fix them! That messed my plans up. So sticking with edf for now. 7p kw/h night rate, 54p peak, 39p standing charge. But obviously get 7 hrs to charge batteries. Dont ever use peak rate, but hate that standing charge!

I dont have an E7 meter, I have SMETS 2 smart meter so hopefully we will be ok. Thanks for the update though.

 

[Ucatchmydrift]

I dont have an E7 meter, I have SMETS 2 smart meter so hopefully we will be ok. Thanks for the update though.

I have a gen2 smart meter installed october, not sure if thats a smets2 or not? My old meter was economy 7. The woman on the phone said something about if the meter has 02 on the end then you cant have the tariff. She checked my address and confirmed that i do unfortunately.

 

[johnb2713]

I have a gen2 smart meter installed october, not sure if thats a smets2 or not? My old meter was economy 7. The woman on the phone said something about if the meter has 02 on the end then you cant have the tariff. She checked my address and confirmed that i do unfortunately.

I'm on the live chat now, the problem with the online quote is they as do you have an E7 meter, well, no I dont, I have a smart meter which isnt the same thing. I'll let you know what they say.

 

[Ucatchmydrift]

I'm on the live chat now, the problem with the online quote is they as do you have an E7 meter, well, no I dont, I have a smart meter which isnt the same thing. I'll let you know what they say.

I wouldnt trust live chat, they told me the wrong thing after them telling me to talk to the sales team. Dont think they have a clue. Sales team direct number: 0345 206 8777
They answered straight away

 

[bladerunnerpv]

I presume for the no PV panel case that you need an AC coupled inverter and any necessary consumer unit mods.

What is the situation with DNO Gxx certificates for battery only?

If it's connected to a consumer unit which is also connected to the grid, then by default DNO would considered it as connected to the grid

The need for network operator staff safety remains for the case of a power cut or supply fault presumably.

If no PV panels and battery is used for EV and house only, without export, then is G98 needed?

Gxx certs info...
https://www.energynetworks.org/oper...ecting-generation-to-the-electricity-networks
I don't know much about this end of things as you may have guessed

 

[binky]

If no PV panels and battery is used for EV and house only, without export, then is G98 needed?

Yes

 

[Andy1733]

Could you not change to an economy 7 meter (unless thats the meter you have?) and go back to edf on their new rates? (and assuming you have battery storage and dont use peak rate at all) Unless of course you sell back to the grid?, which you obviously couldn't do with the edf tariff..

I suppose I could. My setup is self installed so no payback for me

 

[bladerunnerpv]

I'm puzzled, if battery + inverter with no solar needs a g98 cert., then presumably the items need to be approved on the ENA register? How does this work for a self-build storage battery?

 

[johnb2713]

I'm puzzled, if battery + inverter with no solar needs a g98 cert., then presumably the items need to be approved on the ENA register? How does this work for a self-build storage battery?

It's really only the inverter that needs to be approved, it's the inverter thats going to be injecting voltage onto the grid and has the potential for horrible things to happen. A battery doesnt have any direct connection.