How Low Can You Go? (Limbo Dancing for PV Owners)

DrPhilG

Thanks @irishchris

I really wouldn't be arsed having to switch out the Solis.

Another question, how much does the level pay thing cost per month/period? I've not paid out a cent on an electric bill for 2 years so it'll be a shock to the system.

DrPhilG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121050648#Comment_121050648

Just called ESBN, they told me that I'm already on the list and the rollout of the D/N compatible smart meters starts tomorrow and I should have mine by the end of September or early October. I asked if I could just go for the regular smart meter and have it earlier, he insisted that it's the exact same meter, but just configured differently, so it won't make any difference to the time frame.

Is he talking bollocks? I thought it was literally a different type. If it's the same meter but "configured for D/N tariffs" then why would they not be offering that configuration change to existing customers?

FFS, so much confusion coming from the so called professionals.

championc

Real making it up as they go along / snake oil stuff 😳

irishchris

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121050866#Comment_121050866

Just make sure you put down only one person living at the house and the level pay will be lower. First month was 116 then dropped to 26 before after 3 months when it works out usage it is just 5 euro per month ever since. Can use towards your winter usage bills or get it refunded with the fit after few months

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121051086#Comment_121051086

You don't want to do that. In fact the opposite. You want as many people as possible on the bill as each will qualify for the €200 income tax excemption on FIT payments

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121050866#Comment_121050866

Level pay initial high payments are not a "cost", basically they mean you have prepaid and your bills for the rest of the year will be very low, zero, or even negative. They'll banktransfer any credit to you at the end of the year

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121050489#Comment_121050489

2 - I don't know, I've asked that question here, not much response to it:

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058311476/what-are-my-rights-in-cooling-off-period-after-renewing-electricity-contract

3 - You should ask on the dedicated Solis hybrid thread, but AFAIK there is no solution yet, they can only do 60A. If it was me owning one, I would have already got a full refund out of them as the thing doesn't perform anywhere near to spec

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121050983#Comment_121050983

It's the same meter, but configured differently from the factory

unkel

I can confirm what ESBN told @DrPhilG - basically all of us with D / N meters are on the list for getting a smart meter that can handle D / N plans. None of these meters have been installed yet in Ireland. The rollout starts in the middle of September. So technically you could have one within 3 weeks. But it could also be you might have to wait months or even a year, who knows

If you want your D / N meter to be replaced with a standard smart meter as they have been rolling out for quite some time, this is also possible, but your current electricity provider will have to organise this for you. I arranged this with Energia and it will be done on Monday, so basically it is taking 3 working days

DrPhilG

I've sent Energia a message asking about this.

I need to have a think about the next step. If I'm limited to about 10kWh into the battery per night then I'd be cutting it very fine to get all my usage for the remaining 21hrs out of that plus generation.

Cost to change from the Solis (not sure what I'd get for it) and then buy something with a better charge rate I'm not sure.

I won't benefit from the feed in rate much yet as we're coming into September.

DrPhilG

Ps just got this from Energia...

"All smart meters have the capability of recording Day/Night/Peak, whether or not the original meter was 24 or D/N; as long as they have a good connection quality.

The original phase of installation was to replace 24hr meters, this has now moved onto replacing D/N meters.

We can't demand the installation of a smart meter yet, however, we can send through an early adopter request which are sent in batches to ESBN, advising of customers who want one early.

This would then allow you to approach the network and request installation; my understanding is that some customers are getting theirs fast to replace considerably older meters or for microgeneration (solar panels) purposes to ensure they are billed accurately for their import/export."

championc

Getting back on topic

End of the month, and last day with the Day Night Meter.

Meter Readings 06914 (01184 Day - up 1 / 05729 Night - Zero change

DrPhilG

Yeah apologies, @Jonathan feel free to shift my meter wrangling queries somewhere more appropriate.

JayBee66

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121031788#Comment_121031788

Meter 30 Apr - 425 Day / 152 Night

Meter 31 Aug - 429 Day / 153 Night

~1.25kWh per month

Water heated by legacy solar thermal. No battery charging required. Usually topped up by mid-morning.

championc

Very very impressive. Well done 👍

irishchris

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121051102#Comment_121051102

Very true but what I'm saying is simply put down on the initial online switch one person in order to avail of reasonable initial level pay but then do as I did and ring them within few days to add the other name(s) to the bill to avail of the tax exemption for fit. No problems or issues whatsoever with pinergy staff then doing so 👍

Good to see a lot of people switching to this plan now as many suggested it was a crazy one when I switched but depending on people's setups it's simply one of the best

DC999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121054086#Comment_121054086

Fine line between a genius and a lunatic :) I do recall you got some raised eyebrows alright for pioneering that at the time. As you say, works for some setups.

jasgrif11

@irishchris Are you able to charge the battery and EV in that 3 hour window or are you supplementing the inverter with a DC charger?

irishchris

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121054636#Comment_121054636

I think I'm a bit of both, possibly more lunatic though 😁

irishchris

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121054816#Comment_121054816

Sent a pm there but charging solely with the sofar and small 4-5kw average winter generation too means I have never fallen below 25% battery

As an example this is last December's numbers. This year my daytime usage will be down from that as last December had the Solis which was so poor compared to sofar in terms of battery/grid balancing. Plus the negative pso this year will help too

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121054086#Comment_121054086

Not too sure what people's beef is with the initial high levelpay payments. Surely the rest of the year your bills will be low, zero or even negative and at the end of the year you can ask for a refund of your credit balance

Unless you're in dire straits with a very poor cashflow position at the start of the contract, I can't see the problem?

DrPhilG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121055444#Comment_121055444

I don't have a issue with it, just wanted to get an idea of how much it would be so I can adjust my budgeting.

My electric bill has been €0 per month for 2 years now!

Scoopsire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121055115#Comment_121055115

@irishchris interested in understanding a bit more, as I'm currently running a solis. Your Dec imports is v impressive only importing 18 standard units

Excluding your EV is your daily consumption low or just well managed based on what you could get into the battery plus the couple of units of PV

irishchris

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121056355#Comment_121056355

No EV yet in household so just the 12-15kwh average winter usage. With the sofar now I will get 15 kwh in but will the Solis was only getting about 10kwh.

This is supplemented by generation. Picking the worst month of the year December 2022, I Generated 354kwh so about 11kwh average a day.