Am I right that it costs less to fill the battery when it has degraded? So if it has degraded by 10% it costs 10% less to fill? Meaning it's not costing any more. Just less useable space available.
That what I understand for our EV which is 6 years old. Which is something I will happily accept with any EV we own for the rest of our lives.
Spot on mate. If the unit rate is €0.10 and you have a 10Kwhr battery, then (assuming 0% losses) it will cost you €1 to fill up. If after 10 years that capacity has dropped say 15% so it only stores 8.5Kwhr, then it will cost you €0.85 to fill it.
Course similar to the EV, you will get less "mileage" from it, but that's ok. it still works, just not as well as the day you bought it.
Interesting article in the Journal.ie yesterday in respect of the FIT and the rates that suppliers are giving per KWh.
https://www.thejournal.ie/energy-suppliers-surplus-solar-power-microgeneration-delay-5862276-Sep2022/
Indeed. Some of the regulars in here got it even cheaper, but I got 20kWh usable CALB cells in June for €2300
So if you'd get 2000 cycles * 20kWh = 40000kWh out of them, so each costs 6c per kWh, that's the figure @WattsUp came up with
Now if you got a 2.4kWh Pylontech (2.2kWh usable) for €1200, then this figure is a shocking 27c/kWh 🤐, in other words it will never pay for itself unless electricity will go up even a lot more (and that's disregarding FIT)
Wait, arent the CALB cells rated for something like 4000 or 6000 cycles? I know aliexpress tend to inflate numbers, but LFP are known to be durable.
Aye AE have them down as 6000 cycles. Not sure if that's realistic though, it means 16 years at a full cycle a day and then still have 80% capacity? 😁
I understand the FIT will generally go towards paying off your bill first before they (ever) start writing cheques. Does this also apply to the standing charge? i.e. will there always be a standing charge regardless of how much energy you put back in?
The credit will go to cover the bill no matter how its made up. Its still early days of the FIT so its still a unknown.
You might get enough credit to buy something in the utility providers eshop. Or a free gas boiler service.
But early days. Sit back a see how it shakes out.
The avg standing charges are around €50 a month, so you would need to be exporting 280kWh (@18c) a month just to cover that, nevermind any grid usage. For the vast majority of us here, FIT will just be a credit against the monthly bill, with some able to roll over some excess credit to the next bill or two during the summer, though some with the very large arrays and batteries may end up with €0 bills for a few months of the summer.
Can't see to many getting actual cash out of it unless changing supplier during the summer.
The avg standing charges are around €50 a month
my standing charge with Energia is €20 a month - who is charging 50?
"It depends"
Rural standing charge is about 100 euro more a year than urban also day night is more expensive than 24 hr
But there is suppliers with standing charges of 400+ a year
D/N and smart meter plans are generally higher too. Especially the smart plans with very low rates for a couple of hours at night
sure, but he said the average is 50 a month which is 600 a year.
Standing charges plus rural premium plus PSO(reducing) would not be too far short of 600 for some plans. I'd probably round up too
Yeah, went a little high on that.
With EI and it's almost €45 a month (rural) currently inc vat and pso, granted that will be going in a few weeks.
Even at 20 a month you'll still need to be averaging an export of 110kwh a month to cover that before any grid purchases so it's still not going to be paying out over a year for too many.
Currently I've an avg export of 145 a month, estimated to be 120-125 by end of the year which would cover half the charges, though I'm planning on switching in a few weeks so will see what's better out there
Had seen that Journal article about the FiT a few days ago and wanted to ask what people here thinking it might be worth per annum given the amount of sunshine over the last year as a reference point. If I did go ahead with an installation its for a 3 bed semi so Im limited to one south facing roof which I think has about a 35-40 degree pitch. iirc you are limited on how many panels you can put up by the size of the overall roof. Anyone here also with a 3 bed semi know how many m2 of panels you can put up and have real world experience of how many units it is generating annually.
Also I will have a read of the solar PV quotes thread but am I right to say that over the last few years as the media have been practically doing all the solar industries advertising for them for free that prices have risen substantially? I know thats been the case with EWI which was available for 90 per sqm in 2018 but recently have heard some companies quoting 180-200 per sqm which is mad money and people are paying it. I know insulating boards have risen in the price but the cynic in me feels many companies are taking full advantage of both the grants regime and the constant media exposure for energy savings.
For me renewables are all about the payback period and if the prices are sky high then that payback period gets longer and longer which kind of puts me off. If only there was a way to buy my own panels and contract a roofer and sparks but still get the grant Id do that but it seems you have to go to these SEAI solar companies, they say theyre up the walls with long waiting lists which says they are increasing prices becasue demand is through the roof, excuse the pun.
Its a funny one becasue normally with new technologies early adopters pay the most money and then it gets cheaper over time. But from what I can see with solar early adopters probably have the cheapest installs and much shorter payback periods than someone getting it now as a result.
I'd say the average is €350-400 for urban. I went to Bonkers.ie and added myself to give a list of available offers......(this was with a D/N meter) but Graeme is right that it jumps a bit with rural. I do find €400 a year somewhat questionable for zero work. I get that they need to charge something, you incur costs simply by being a customer as they have to support you, generate a bill, etc./....but €30/month if I use zero units does seem odd.
If ever there was a way to improve energy consumption, drop the standing charges by 75% and increase unit charges appropriately.
Most in the €300-400 range.
Have kept an eye on standing charges over the last couple of years as they are a bugbear of mine the way they have more than doubled in price with no explanation from the regulator. I think the energy companies are basically using them as a way of disguising what would be even higher per unit electricity costs if the increases only went on to the unit price.
My own meter is day night urban and 2 years back my SC was the cheapest in the market at 127 per annum with Glow Power, at that time the most expensive was Electric Ireland at 270 per year. Now my SC is still one of the cheapest in the market but is 296pa (Energia) and the most expensive is still EI and they were 450pa when I was switching recently. 450 quid a year is some wedge before you even flick on a light switch.
With more people getting solar in, the suppliers will be selling less units to those folks, so less profit there. As you have to pay the SC in any case, that's where they are looking to claw some back and will probably up it every chance they can, though I just checked on EI and it's staying as is with next months increases.
On the surface it would seem like that, but dont' forget that solar penetration in Ireland is some 25,000-30,000 out of ~2.4million homes. So only 1% of the market. I wish it was more of course (as do we all) but solar wouldn't move the dial that much with respect to standing charges.
Personally, I think a tenner a month is probably a fair shout as a SC.
Alright, so I'm on an old standard meter. Have a 5.32kw south facing array that seems to be doing well, even during the crap weather the last few days. I'm currently on a plan with Electric Ireland that offers 8.5% discount but obviously I'm not getting anything in return for the many kwh I'm putting back to the grid. It's a flat 24hr rate so charging the battery overnight doesn't really make much of a difference.
Any ideas what the best option here is? Bite the bullet and get a smart meter and then shop around? I see EI do a "night boost" where it's a hugely reduced rate, perfect for charging the battery up, especially with winter on the way.
Does the meter go backwards? If so jump on here to see the options (hint, wait!): Questions on Solar PV Self Install: Meter running backwards - Page 2 — boards.ie - Now Ye're Talkin'
You will get paid for putting back into the grid, backdated to February 2022. But without a smart meter you will get a deemed export payment, based on the size of your inverter, for your size inverter it is roughly €200-€250 per year
I was waiting to see but alas, it doesn't go backwards it just stays still. Not sure if that's better than getting FiT payments or not.
At least that's something, I take it I have to notify the supplier I'm putting it back to the grid.
Nope, no need to notify your utility company
You do only get FIT if after your install you, or your installer, sent in the mandatory NC6 form to ESB networks though. Double check that that was done.
Another one bites the dust
Wow, I thought Panda had invested in biogas production so they would have been set with high gas prices
It does bring into question the belief from people that these companies are making excessive profits.
An interesting observation about the FIT, the deemed export does not care about the weather or the hours of sunlight. It's worth a lot more in winter than summer when you have very little chance of exporting.
Deemed kWh = MEC * 24 * 0.097 * 0.35 * DAYS
Deemed kWh = MEC * 0.8148 * DAYS
DAYS is the number of days in the calculation
MEC is the inverter output reported on your nc6
I know it's posted already, still can be hard to find.
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