PV Feed In Tariff

SD_DRACULA

Was talking to BG today since they botched my d/n figures considerably by their estimates and had to go through the whole ransom newspaper beside meter sort of nonsense to correct them and I asked about FIT and they read the following off some sort of doc:

• You must have a smart meter fitted
• You must have the NC6 form submitted
• Fill out the BG microgeneration interest form
• Payments at the end of the year from EBSN
• ESBN will contact me (who knows when)
• 
  

Tree

When I last poked BG on twitter they said once you have the NC6 in , you don't need to do anything. Registering on their microgen page is not a requirement. (the first dude couldn't answer me and pointed me at their FAQ, the second one confirmed you don't need to do anything past the NC6)

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119235222#Comment_119235222

Was thinking about the smart meter requirements, esbn will supply the utility with an estimate for people who don't have a smart meter.

But to require the smart meter is quite easy, don't give a FIT for anyone not on a smart tariff.

4goneConclusion

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119234630#Comment_119234630

Airtricity are offering 14 c/kWh.

https://www.sseairtricity.com/ie/business/help-centre/microgeneration/

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119237362#Comment_119237362

Wow. I thought Pinergy's 13.5c would be the outlier...!

irishchris

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119237362#Comment_119237362

Cracking rate and good sign with the first two companies published rates putting pressure on others to follow suit. Have to say a lot higher than I expected of any of them.

Is the sse rate for residential as well as business customers?

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119237401#Comment_119237401

Seems so. Same rate also published on Home version of that page:

https://www.sseairtricity.com/ie/home/help-centre/microgeneration/

DrPhilG

Nice. I'm still €500+ in credit with SSE from the VW purchase lol.

DrPhilG

So what's the low down on how they estimate the "deemed export"?

And is this being backdated?

KCross

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119237471#Comment_119237471

There's a complicated formula based on your kWp value. Its listed in the SSE page in the FAQ.

For a 6kWp system you are looking at 1784kWh

For 4kWp it would be 1190kWh

So, for SSE's rate of 14c/kWh and 6kWp you would be looking at €250.

DrPhilG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119237792#Comment_119237792

Yeah I couldn't figure out the formula at all.

Plus there seems to be confusion about when it starts. Is it June, is it August, is it payments in August but backdated to June or earlier.

Niceday20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119237878#Comment_119237878

From the Energia website it says "The date the scheme commenced was midnight 15th February 2022", so backdated. Don't know what happens if you have cahnged supplier in the meantime though.

loyatemu

Am I right in saying that whatever you don't use yourself, you'll get FIT payment for?

so if I produce 3kw for the year, and use half that myself, I get 1500x0.14 in FIT for the rest (with Airtricity)?

irishchris

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119238162#Comment_119238162

Yes if you have a smart meter. If not smart meter than there is a deemed quantity paid for.

loyatemu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119238367#Comment_119238367

I do have a smart meter (though I'm still on a 24hr tariff).

Rough calculations suggest this makes SolarAAS pay for itself in year 1, which is pretty good (obviously rates may go back down).

Say a 2.5kw array (which is their basic product @ €360 per year) producing about 2.5kw/h over the year (from the Boards spreadsheet). Even if you used nothing and exported it all, you'd almost break even based on the Airtricity FIT.

It also makes the case for EDDI, batteries etc pretty weak I think? Is there a limit to the amount of FIT you can receive?

WattsUp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119237471#Comment_119237471

Calculation boils down to 3.395% of your installed capacity by the total hours. So a 6kW system for 1 year would be 0.03395*6kw*24hours*365days = 1784kW deemed export for a year or in SSE case €249.81........Now if most of that energy actually ended up in your EV battery or was exported, nobody knows!!! That is why they will be pushing hard for smart meters :-)

Mr Q

Anyone hear anything about the Energia FIT rates? I have not seen them mentioned here.

I have emailed their customer care team asking for confirmation but don't expect a quick response.

DrPhilG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119238565#Comment_119238565

Perfect, thanks for the calculation.

So based on it being back paid til mid Feb, I'll be looking at a credit of about €140, and then €20 a month? Does the deemed export figure stay the same through the cold months, ie is it an average for the year?

KCross

Does the deemed export figure stay the same through the cold months

yes

DrPhilG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119239156#Comment_119239156

Either I'm getting my figures wrong, or this is too good to be true.

If they're paying about €250 a year to a 6kWp system, that means they're estimating my export at about 1,785kWh (250/0.14). This is the as per @WattsUp figures.

Even before I installed the big battery I was only exporting less than half that figure.

Last year with the battery installed late in the year I exported 520kWh, this year it'll be not much over 100kWh.

I'm not complaining, just surprised that they'd be paying so much.

Mr Q

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119238791#Comment_119238791

I have had a very quick response from Energia which surprised me a bit.

Still no FIT rate and they have no idea when they will have one. They are blaming this fully on the government and the fact they have not put the regulation in place to allow Energia to fix a rate. This obviously didn't stop Airtricity or Pinergy.

Also some stuff about needing a smart meter to avail of the payments and about battery types from different electricity providers. Which I think may be a reference to a plan one provider had where you needed a battery install from them to get the FIT.

KCross

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119239290#Comment_119239290

Your figures are correct as per my post

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119237792#Comment_119237792

The deemed export is generous so they will be closing that loophole quickly I'd say, by forcing smart meters on anyone on the deemed export.

However, regardless of the deemed export and the 14c/kWh you have to look at the rest of the tariff that goes with that 14c. Do they crucify you on day rate or do you keep your existing tariff.... who knows... its not clear yet so I wouldn't count any chickens until you see an actual tariff/plan that you can signup to and read the fine print.

kabakuyu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119239950#Comment_119239950

Nail on the head, 14c FIT is useless if you have to migrate to a hefty day and peak rate.

DrPhilG

My SSE deal is up in September but I'll still have about €4-500 in credit that I can't take with me.

con747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119240093#Comment_119240093

That and the feed in Tarif your due should nearly get you through winter so your ready for changing then with no tie in contract, at least it won't go to waste unless they put the prices up too high.

unkel

Amazing stuff. My payback period of my shed upgrade adding 5kwp was 2.5 years last May when I installed it. Down to under 2 years with the recent price increases And now with this FIT, down again to about 20 months. Incredible stuff.

yankinlk

I hope you are all correct and I look forward to yet another bonus = 200 gov + 300 eI switch + 200ish fit.

I wonder will there be any switch bonuses again next year ?

curioustony

I got frustrated with the lack of support for smart meters and solar in the comparison sites. I created a not-so-simple python app to help figure out the best time of use plan to go with. It supports FIT. Bad news, there is some setup and lots of bugs.

No links for me yet (1st post)

It's on GitHub. The user is tonyslogic. The project is tout-compare.

Usability has a way to go...

BoxerX

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119240021#Comment_119240021

Your comment got me thinking.

Is the Clean Export Guarantee of (eg) 14c a figure paid (in the form of a credit) to your account irregardless of what tariff one happens to be on at the time?

For example; Say I am 6 months into a 2 year contract tariff, paying 25c per unit. I have the NC6 form with ESB and a smart meter fitted. Therefore I should get the quoted CEG rate of 14c. Would I be moved to a different tariff by my electricity provider that increases the amount I pay per unit to 'compensate' for the power I am producing? If so, why? My electricity provider isn't having to do anything to redistribute my exported power, so why would they go through the pain of creating new tariffs that would likely be investigated by the Irish authorities as possibly fraudulent and definitely not in the spirit of the CEG. Surely the point of the 14c FIT is to incentivise those fitting solarPV in addition to the grant?

I know Pinergy have high rates, but they already had high rates. Checking Airtricity, I don't see any new "CEG Tariffs" since they announced 14c FIT. However, I do realise that it's entirely possible for suppliers to introduce such tariffs in the future. But if the CRU hold to their promise to review the tariffs and amount of the FIT, any evidence found that suggests the CRGs fairness stipulation is being overridden will be corrected by the CRU. Basically the CRU have given the suppliers a chance to be fair on their own, but if they decide not to play ball, the CRU will toughen the rules. I can't see the CRU or the government allowing a government grant based microgeneration scheme that helps offset Ireland's carbon output to fail because the electricity providers are trying to make a fast buck.

As far as it can be seen at this moment in time, it seems the 14c rate is exactly that, 14c per unit paid as a credit to your existing bill, tax free up to €200.

At least, that's what I hope!

SD_DRACULA

It sounds like ESBN will be paying the FIT but if that's the case shouldn't it be the same value across all suppliers?

It would be nice so we can get paid regardless of the plan/supplier we are with but I doubt it.