Solar / Octopus - which tariff?

[BeefyWellington]

We're very lucky that we recently had solar panels and a battery fitted. It's made a HUGE change to our energy bills (right time of year for it), but now I think we need to change energy supplier for one that is better suited to solar (currently with EDF).

I gather Octopus is a good bet, but I'm totally confused by their tariffs.

Can anyone advise?

As we have a battery we'd like low cost energy at night to charge it from the grid. And also we would like an export tariff for the energy we generate and put back into the grid. I thought it would be relatively straightforward to tell what would be the best option, but I'm struggling.

Obviously I have contacted Octopus directly, but Mumsnet has a lot of wisdom so I wondered if anyone had any recommendations or things to look out for when changing energy supplier due to having solar installed?

There's a choice of two export tariffs the agile one and the fixed one. But you can switch between at any point with no issues, so we signed up for fixed and then we'll see how it goes.

Otherwise, do you mean choosing an "economy 7" tariff or a standard one?

Oh that's good to know about the switching. Might help me to make a decision!

So there seem to be a variety of tariffs -

The page I'm currently looking at has

AgileOctopus, OctopusGo, IntelligentOctopus - all slightly different supply tariffs.

Then, if I'm understanding correctly, I also need to set up an export tariff and (as you say) have a choice between fixed rate or variable.

It's mainly the supply tariff that is stumping me! I'd hoped I could put in info about our system, etc. and it would recommend the best one (or narrow down the selection) but it just asked some basic questions and then recommended one tariff (can't remember which) which didn't seem to have any benefits for a house with solar.

But I feel like I'm being a bit thick!

Also, all the "cheap energy at night" tariffs seem to refer exclusively to car charging, rather than topping up a battery, so I'm unclear on if there are restrictions.

As I say I think I'm being thick!

Oh I've just found Octopus Flux - that looks like the sort of thing I'm looking for.

Also worth pointing out that if there is no exit fee for the import tariff you sign up to then you can switch your import tariff too if you find one that you prefer later.

I think their quote system doesn't include solar as it's still not that common, although it is the reason we switched to octopus.

Did you want a referral link? We get £50 credit each if you sign up using a referral link...

Ooh yes please to the referral link. That would be great. We're just checking with them that our Smart meter is definitely compatible, but if it is we'll be switching imminently.

I'll PM you the referral link 😀

I'm on day and night tariff with Octopus, received lowered prices yesterday from 1 July

Thank you for replies. I had to sign up for their standard tariff initially anyway (as their Smart Tariffs are only for existing customers), but the direct debit for that alone is considerably cheaper than EDF. Also not clear on if our old Smart Meter is suitable for the smart tariff, so waiting to hear back from them on that front too.

Appreciate the advice (and the referral code).

Octopus Flux in the summer, and then switch to Octopus Go or Intelligent Octopus in the winter (IO needs a certain type of EV or charger - see their website). I’m
not sure if you need an EV for Go, I was never asked.

We are waiting for our battery to be installed - got the solar in February, it’s made such a difference (even without a battery which will be amazing in the winter !)

There are some good Solar FB forums you should join for advice.

I'm new on MN and in the same position having installed solar panels with a 5.32KWH as you except I have decided that Flux is the best tariff at the moment for me. It works for me, as I WFH mainly and so am able to consume what I produce during the day. And then later in the winter months will be using the 2am-5am slot to top up my battery. I am a relatively low user at 10KWH per day.

I think Octopus Go would benefit those who have EVs and/or have larger batteries to charge up as the "low tariff" period is much cheaper. (Tariff differs based on where you live).

If anyone else would like a £50 referral code, let me know! 😁

My cheap octopus is 12.30 till 4.30 am, also solar, EV car and batteries. Love it !

We have solar with batteries and finally managed to switch to Octopus Flux and now our bills are about minus £90 a month while the sun is shining. Obviously this will change with the weather but at the moment Octopus are paying us about £6 a day. It was a long hard battle to get it up and running. First your installer has to be MCS registered and you need an MCS certificate for your installation and your installer has to have applied for a G98 or G99 to get your export MPAN for your local grid network. Your DNO will tell you what your allowed to export. Then we swopped to Octopus and got them to install a second generation smart meter. That took a few weeks. Then we applied for Outgoing Octopus fixed (15p per KWh exported) and normal import tariff as if you apply for Flux straight away you get the more expensive import rates right away even though it still takes a few weeks to get the export going. So best to only apply for Flux once Outgoing is up and running. We submitted our MCS certificate and our dno certification to Octopus and then after a few more weeks and emails we finally got Flux up and running. Took a few months all in all but was definitely worth the effort.

My referral code is https://share.octopus.energy/fresh-hill-950 if anyone wants to use it.

we're with Octopus as our supplier - like others on this thread we've got solar panels and EVs, so Intelligent Octopus gets us electricity at7.5p per kwh between 11.30 and 4.30 (and other random times as well)
but you don't need to sell to the same company as you get your electricity from, so we sell back to Scottish Power, who give us more than Octopus do

Definately flux in the summer months. I exported £150 back to the grid last month

Depending which battery and inverter you have you may be able to connect directly to Octopus and buy / sell energy from you solar and battery automatically to give you the best return. The software knows the next days export rates per half hour and also has solar predictions. So it can decide to sell the energy in your battery when the rate is high and then buy it back when its cheap. It will even charge the battery at low rate then sell it back at a higher rate. All very clever

I would also recommend anyone getting solar panels that has a hot water tank to get an Eddi. This device diverts surplus energy once the battery is full the heat up the hot water. So through the summer the boiler will very rarely fire up and you will make big gas savings too.

Hi All we had solar and battery fitted April, we are over the moon with it. I joined Octopus Energy on standard tariff that was for approx 2 days, they changed me to the Flux import whilst I was waiting for all the relevant bits to be done to get the Flux Export. I’ve just been paid from 19th Aug to 14th Sept £71.98 so not a whole month. I’m going to change to the Intelligent tariff for winter as I’ve an EV car. Whilst on that tariff you can also get a fix tariff for export it’s not great price approx 6p KWH.
we used Kilowatt Renewables they were fantastic clean tidy polite workers and did a good tidy job of the installation. I’ve also got an Eddi that controls the hot water so I’m saving on gas as well. Carli the lady in the office is so polite and helpful that anyone looking for a no obligation quote without the pushy ness definitely worth giving her a call. They do have a FB page also. I’ve posted pictures of their card also my invoice from Octopus with what they’ve just paid me as mentioned above. Hope this helps anyone, Any questions please ask.

@Pamallama Octopus are now doing 15p export on Intelligent which is much better ! It came into force about a week ago.

We have been really impressed with our solar which we had installed in February - I haven’t had a Dec/Jan yet though so I need to manage my expectations !

Thnks. Iv signed up too using Octorati to easily learn what my rates are each day.