Earning Є10,950 a year from FIT...

JayBee66

Once you get your NC6 are you free to use it to the max?

Assuming you feed in 5kW per hour 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, you could earn up to Є10,950 a year in FIT (@ .25c/kWh)

Let's say you had a large wind turbine and a big battery to hold enough current to discharge into the grid at night. Alternatively, you have a small waterfall on your property (I almost did) or you make enough bio-fuel to run a generator. What is to stop you from feeding excess back to the grid 24/7 with your NC6?

Of course, it'll put you a little over your Є400 tax credit but, even after tax, it's a sum not to be sniffed at.

Is any of this possible or would the ESB or your electricity supplier deem it "not in the spirit"?

loyatemu

I thought I read you couldn't discharge your batteries to the grid under FIT - I'm not sure how they'd be able to tell but sending huge amounts to the grid 24/7 would probably attract their attention.

JayBee66

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122030524#Comment_122030524

I think there are quite a few on this forum who do discharge their batteries to grid at night. I have the feature on my system but don't use it, as of yet. In fact, everyone's battery is discharged, ever so slightly, at night for the purpose of grid synchronisation.

But, yes, my worry is attracting attention by feeding in so much.

idc

Pretty sure ESBN don't allow Feed in via a generator. Solar/wind/battery yes. And based on other threads today I expect your system would be flagged for exporting so much. Thats 43000kWh a year export.

SD_DRACULA

You forgot to say divide by 2 (or more) for the tax man.

Question is would they flag you for say 7000-8000kwh exported? Asking for a friend

jasgrif11

I certainly hope there isn't a restriction on exporting to the grid from the battery!

slave1

It's early days so open to interpretation, as someone who deals with Revenue on a regular enough basis I find them fair but very little leeway if not compliant, from memory the €400 exemption per person is in relation to "renewables" so charging a battery from the grid at low rate and exporting thereafter is not a clear cut "renewable" activity…….time will tell

ELM327

The only restriction is your MEC. Say you have a 12kva standard connection, your MIC would be 12kva but your MEC would be set by your NC6. Let's say you have 6kW inverter and thus a 6kva MEC (note the use of kW vs kVa here as a false equivalence, this seems to be the ESBn process though), you can perfectly fine export 6kW for 24 hours per day. That's 144kWh per day or 52,560kWh over the year. That's 12,600 at 24c per kWh. That would be the notional max.

There is no restriction on exporting from battery vs direct from PV. The only thing you cannot do is export from a generator.

Ubbquittious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122030640#Comment_122030640

They might flag you for exporting too much but if there is no set limit in any terms and conditions you signed up for and it's all coming in through your solar inverter (even if its not coming from solar panels) do they really have any justification to take action against you?

idc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122030805#Comment_122030805

True, there is no limit although I expect anyone getting close to limit might prompt an investigation.
Like if did reach the max is it because you are running a generator? Hydro would be perfect example where you could be close to max.

Realistically if your going to go to the trouble of buying enough wind/solar + batteries to export at a constant 5kWh 24/7 you've probably got the money to pay for increased MIC/MEC + NC7 anyway.

DC999

There’s a logic flaw as can only export 1) while a renewal resource is producing 2) after you’ve charged up a battery and feed that into the grid. Outside of those slots you won’t have any production to export. House battery max export seems to be 18000kWh when I do back of envelope maths. 50kWh that a battery can fill up in 4 hours at 16kW, less 20% charging losses, do that 365 days a year). Then plus whatever else solar exports.

Other biggie is that FIT is variable with no minimum rate afaik.

I know this is more a 'blue sky' post - which is an interesting concept of what could the max return be.

SD_DRACULA

I suppose the only time you would not be exporting is the 3 hour window, had a look at the other day which was a pretty good day and exported for about 16 hours between PV and battery but not at max power of course.

In my books flooding the grid with green-ish power is a good thing (green-ish because we don't know where the 3 hour is coming from, ideally wind but I doubt it)

We'll eventually get to what happens in Holland where you get don't get paid during peak solar due to so much excess and have to wait until the sun goes down to export.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122030938#Comment_122030938

I would imagine a significant enough cohort of people dumping batteries to the grid during the 5-9pm peak would have a very positive effect on the grid since it would curtail the need for open cycle gas turbines

If dynamic tariffs become a thing then I wonder will suppliers offer a dynamic FIT as well, would definitely make a good case for the old pump and dump strategy

slave1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122030914#Comment_122030914

You'd never be anywhere near the max with hydro, likes of a 1.5kW-2kW hydro wheel is a good 7ft tall with massive head flow, to get up to the 6kW would be virtually impossible in a domestic environment

slave1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122030918#Comment_122030918

Renewables can produce 24/7 once either windy or daylight (ignoring hydro) and you don't have to charge a battery first, I charge my battery at night to 100% and export all excess PV during the day as first option with nothing hitting the battery

the_amazing_raisin

One question for folks earning a lot from FIT, have you had any trouble getting your green money from your electricity supplier?

Typically they add credit to your account, but if you end up in a net positive for the year then it would be worthwhile getting them to refund you the credit

I had to do this with Energia a couple of years ago as we ended up over €500 in credit before switching to Flogas. They had no issues with the refund but it did need to go up the chain for approval since it was over the usual amount

ELM327

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122033549#Comment_122033549

No issue here. I got just under 500 quid last summer when leaving energia. Didnt even have to ask, it was sent to the bank account that the DD was set up to come from. Mine was a mix of deemed export, low usage, and unused government credit.

slave1

same here, I was a grand with Energia due to gov credits/FIT/low usage, built up over a long period of time

conor_mc

FWIW, I had a build-up due to the govt credits and a mistake when renewing meant my direct debit wasn't set up properly. I just delayed following up until I was back down to a few hundred euro. Might mean pausing a direct debit is an option to run down any build-up in credit is an easier option than requesting a refund.

graememk

Id nearly say try to avoid level pay altogether, if one would tend to be exporting a lot in the summer.

Scoobydoobydoo101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122035631#Comment_122035631

I agree. Even before PV i had a substantial credit built up with energia. To be fair to them, when asked, they sent me a cheque mid contract to reduce the credit.

k123456

Surely the end game of us, exporting to the grid, is less reliance on fossil fuels. The government should applaude this

AntonP

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122044514#Comment_122044514

Instead of that, the government extends this ridiculous pretend tax collection over 400€ per person per year on GREEN energy we provide with our own equipment to collect what… a few coins?

Politicians always doing the best for themselves.