PV Feed In Tariff

JayBee66

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120588294#Comment_120588294

After you log in to ESB networks, click the "My energy consumption" button. If you have a smart meter you will see a chart for "Power consumption". If you are exporting power and have a processed NC6 et al then you will also see a "Power contributed to the grid" chart. If you don't have a smart meter then you will see neither.

bootser

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120588476#Comment_120588476

Thank! Smart meter only installed last Friday, must not be available for another while yet.

HotSwap

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120588294#Comment_120588294

https://myaccount.esbnetworks.ie/Api/HistoricConsumption

how long have you had the smart meter installed? Are you in a smart tariff?

bootser

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120590036#Comment_120590036

Just had a look there and the trend is there now for export! Nothing for import yet. Meter installed last Friday.

HotSwap

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120590154#Comment_120590154

I could be wrong; but I’m not sure if the import data will show up unless you sign up for a smart tarrif.

we switched meter / signed up for a smart tarrif immediately so I’m not sure.

the_amazing_raisin

For a bit of a laugh I decided to compare my deemed export amount with my actual export before I had the battery

Pretty sure I actually exported a lot more than what the deemed export amount was. Deemed export was 283kWh whereas actual export was probably around 400kWh

The calculation assumes 65% self use but looking at the my statistics I got around 63% self use

So it looks like the calculation might actually be somewhat on the pessimistic side

Colm82

It'll be there but they are adding individually rather than at scale so will take time. I enquired esbnetworks why mine wasn't showing but export was and their reply email directed me to their faq in their website!! - very helpful!! Low and behold within a day or two my import was also shown. I don't have a smart plan.

buffalo

My electricity plan is hitting 1yr old, so it's time to switch. Trying to compare plans isn't too bad, but very hard to find figures for CEG/FIT rates. Anyone have a handy list? (I find it hard to search properly on 'new' boards.)

j98c

Hi all,

Not sure if this is the right place to ask but I am wondering how do people go about looking for the best electricity provider for their PV system? I have recently gotten my PV system installed and I would like to take advantage of the feed in tarriff. Are we just looking at the highest sell and lowest buy rate? Any recommendations for companies?

TIA! :)

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120599435#Comment_120599435

The best provider depends on your system and what type of meter you have. If you've a smart meter and no battery then you'll be looking for the best export tariff

If you're on a day/night meter then you'll be looking for the cheapest import tariffs since you'll just be getting an estimated export amount regardless

If you have a battery then you'll probably be looking for cheaper night rates to charge the battery in winter

To give you the quickest answer, I believe the top providers for export tariffs are Flogas and SSE ( both 24c/kWh), Energia (19c/kWh) and Electric Ireland (21c/kWh)

You'll also want to look at how often they pay out. For example Flogas and Energia both pay every billing cycle (2 months) whereas Bord Gais and SSE pay out every 6 months

Obviously you'll also want to look at import rates and balance those against your expected export amount, not much point in making a load of money from export but being charged a fortune for importing electricity

KCross

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120599435#Comment_120599435

Its a complicated question with lots of variables (standing charge, day, night, FiT, time-of-use, cashback etc) that are very specific to you so no one can tell you what is best for you.

You really need a good understanding on your usage along with an accurate value for your generation and export and then mix all that into a spreadsheet to work out which provider gives you the best value.

That would require historical data of your usage and generation. If you dont have that you'd need to get some monitoring tools and gather it over the course of a year.

Pending that, and to keep it simple, I would focus primarily on the comparison sites like bonkers.ie. They dont take FiT into account yet but FiT probably isn't the biggest element of your bill anyway unless you are a low user of electricity but have a large Solar PV array.

So, try bonkers.ie and whatever plans it recommends, say top 3, then check out what their FiT rates are and see if you can overlay your export figure to see if that changes the order for you..... e.g. recommendation 1 is €50 cheaper than recommendation 2, but FiT is worth €150 more for the latter so that's a better choice then.

irishchris

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120599531#Comment_120599531

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120599435#Comment_120599435

Like most have said here it is completely depending on your circumstance. What size system, battery storage, size household you have.

Day/night was the best option but unfortunately over the last year these are now gone up considerably. In my circumstance smart ev plan with pinergy priced to be the best. Cheapest EV rate out there from 2-5am but high day rate. One of the lowest standing charges available. Highest FIT rate too at 25c pet kw exported. You would need decent size system and battery to make this work but for the previous 12 months I'm not only break even but over €1000 euro in credit for the last 12 months

JayBee66

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120599349#Comment_120599349

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120599435#Comment_120599435

I drop into this site every now and again for a rough idea of FIT https://www.purevolt.ie/domestic-solar/feed-in-tariffs.php

but it's not updated regularly. You need to trawl the provider websites and build a bookmark collection. SSE's is in the same place so I know where to get it. Other companies are not so easy to find.

Try building a spreadsheet (I use Google's free Sheets) and enter a "What If" scenario to give you an idea of what to expect from each provider.

In my spreadsheet below I enter FIT, night rate, boost/EV rate, an average of the two (assuming I charge the battery equally with both the aforementioned rates) and a day rate. The "spread" is just average night rate - FIT to give me an idea of which companies reward people who export power and then import cheaply at night. Below zero is good. Standing charge and levy are self-explanatory. Cost per year is up to you. For me, I am assuming that I charge the battery twice a day; once with average night rate and then again with day rate. I don't account for energy made during the day but that's a constant that would reduce all providers' bills equally.

In actuality, I don't charge my battery outside of the winter months but I get an idea of which provider is best. If you don't have a battery then change the last column to reflect your day to day usage; a certain percentage of night, day and peak. Whatever closely matches your average daily usage or split it between winter profile and summer profile.

Once you have some numbers in front of you then you can make a decision.

Remember that other providers offer sweeteners to make you switch. Your current provider probably won't offer a sweetener to stay.

DC999

As a reminder, CRU confirmed to me you can't get FIT on a 24hr meter. Needs to be a smart meter, or a D/N meter to get the deemed export.

silver_sky

Bord gais issued a final bill with the feed-in payment. However, they then closed my account and have not issued the refund. They keep directing me back to the microgen team. They make eir look competent.

randombar

Hi All,

Got the following back from ESB networks:

" Thank you for forwarding NC6 form and certification.

The details provided have been noted and updated on our records. "

Does that mean I'm good to go?

HotSwap

Technically they have 20 working days to respond to say you can’t go ahead. I never heard of someone getting confirmation ahead of time that would cancel that 20 days.

Although the fact that people were not getting back any confirmation that the request was received was a bit silly. Perhaps they have updated their process to include informing the applicant that the request was valid and received; it’s a sensible approach if that’s what’s happening.

I would think you still need to wait the 20 working days to be fully compliant with the process as documented.

DC999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120608744#Comment_120608744

That wording is a confirmation 'The details provided have been noted and updated on our records.'

irishchris

Got surprise call from pinergy this morning. Officially a year with them into my two year contract. Credit balance of 1300 euro microgen being paid into my account later today.

At this rate solar will be paid off in no time. Basically free electricity for the year and nice return. Both have practically paid for the self install DIY solar system I made

randombar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120609348#Comment_120609348

Just FYI got a mail from Energia today confirming I'm one of the cool kids.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120611454#Comment_120611454

I presume that's your pinergy account rather than your bank account or what's the story? That's a crazy return all right though (need to buy more panels!!!)

irishchris

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120611463#Comment_120611463

No it has been credited every month to my pinergy account. With then a year now and balance from the last year being transferred to my bank account

aleesi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120600101#Comment_120600101

Pinergy claims FIT -> 25c and they do have Ev rates. The main issue with them is the balanced billing system that apparently makes you pay EUR 250/month for the first 3 months to them balance out based on actual consumption. Another addition to the table would be the EV time windows (EI 2h, others offer 3-4-5 hours)

irishchris

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120611852#Comment_120611852

You need to put down there is only one person living in your home and your first two months are 116 a month then reduces right down to 5 euro a month which is what I pay every month. In reality shouldn't have to pay anything a month when you are so far in credit but can't complain really with pinergy plan when after a year every power including winter charging is paid and still 1k profit

JayBee66

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120611852#Comment_120611852

https://pinergy.ie/clean-export-guarantee/ says "excluding VAT" so I think 21c is still close to the mark.

Personally, I think Pinergy is suited to urban homes and "busy" people with no spare time to compare prices. Maybe their tariffs were competitive but from what I can see on their impenetrable (deliberately?) website, their standing charge is 80 euros higher than SSE.

They do have an EV rate of 6.92c from 2AM to 5AM but that is obliterated by charging a flat rate of 46.62c for the other 21 hours of the day. No 11PM to 8AM night rate. Putting that into my spreadsheet still has them in 4th place for rural homes and about 20% more expensive than SSE.

DC999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120612539#Comment_120612539

They deffo make sense for people like irishchris with large solar setups (that export a lot) AND large batteries. Then you don’t buy day units and clean up on FIT. But that's a small subset for sure. I did go onto their site a few times to compare rates and it's intentionally vague with little info - as you say.

snor

What’s the story with FIT payments. Keep hearing anecdotally that we have to declare over €200 to revenue. is this €200 per household or per person on the bill? How does it work? Any documentation on this please? Many thanks.

JayBee66

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120613491#Comment_120613491

Good question. Do I have an answer? No. Other than those scoundrels in Leinster House love getting their noses in the trough. No better than the crowd before 1922.

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/energy-and-resources/taxing-homeowners-on-solar-panels-power-may-be-regressive-1.4816807

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120613491#Comment_120613491

There's a €200 tax free allowance per named person on the account, above that amount you need to declare it as earnings and pay appropriate taxes (PAYE, USC and PRSI if you're an employee)

DaveyDave

You're supposed to declare anything over €200 but considering all the trades lads doing jobs cash in hand along with couriers, barbers, Chinese takeaways, tattoo/piercers and god knows who the feck else aren't declaring income properly I wouldn't bother.

DownByTheGarden

Yeah im not going to bother either.