Transitioning to a low carbon life

[john davidson 1]

JD8----In Scotland , early 1900s before power lines appeared  many large estates with suitable streams installed their own hydro schemes, then in the 1950s abandoned them  as worn out and uneconomic with grid available. Lately Companies have offered to install modern plant often along side the old, there are literally dozens now round  here in upland Perthshire  , all to see is a small power house at the foot of the hill once the mess of installation is complete.

Edited November 17, 2023 by john davidson 1

[Tim Kearsley]

Has anyone with GivEnergy products taken up their GivBack offering?  It's one of the DFS (Demand Flexibility Scheme).  Essentially, you receive an email telling you when the next "event" is occurring (i.e. when the grid is under stress) and a third party, Axle Energy, manages pre-event charging of your battery (if necessary) so that you can export to the grid during the event.  Payment for exported energy is quoted as "up to £2.10/kWh" but I think typically is nearer £1/kWh.  I currently pay Octopus 30p/kWh peak, so the maths seems OK.  GivEnergy say that they guarantee that you will earn more than it costs to charge the battery.  As I currently don't run any smart home automation it sounds appealing. 

[MattyB]

3 hours ago, Tim Kearsley said:

Has anyone with GivEnergy products taken up their GivBack offering?  It's one of the DFS (Demand Flexibility Scheme).  Essentially, you receive an email telling you when the next "event" is occurring (i.e. when the grid is under stress) and a third party, Axle Energy, manages pre-event charging of your battery (if necessary) so that you can export to the grid during the event.  Payment for exported energy is quoted as "up to £2.10/kWh" but I think typically is nearer £1/kWh.  I currently pay Octopus 30p/kWh peak, so the maths seems OK.  GivEnergy say that they guarantee that you will earn more than it costs to charge the battery.  As I currently don't run any smart home automation it sounds appealing. 

 

I have Giv kit, but chose to use the Octopus scheme as it looked slightly more generous and I already have Home Assistant running. If I didn't have the latter though the GivBack one looks like an easier option (if it works).

 

[Tim Kearsley]

1 hour ago, MattyB said:

 

I have Giv kit, but chose to use the Octopus scheme as it looked slightly more generous and I already have Home Assistant running. If I didn't have the latter though the GivBack one looks like an easier option (if it works).

 

I think you're right Matty and the Octopus scheme is a little more generous.  It's the fact that Axle Energy take care of the battery charging algorithm which is attractive to me.  The crux is whether it works!

[leccyflyer]

Revisiting this very interesting thread, but bypassing the EV discussion as I'm not in the place that I feel that could work for me and my car use.

 

However, since first posting on the opening page about the air source heat pump based workshop heating system, we've completed the work on the rest of the main outbuildings, installing a further four radiators on the system and the same hi efficiency insulation over most of the rest of the outbuildings. It's made for a very nice additional usable space, which will mostly form a sewing room and crafts studio. Early days yet on that new part, but the workshop and music room part has worked brilliantly since it's installation and we're expecting the same from the new bit. The radiators are barely cracked open to maintain a very comfortable temperature for the workshop. Truth be told I don't have a baseline for the cost of the electricity consumed by the system, but do expect that will go up, with the doubling of the size of the building covered, probably close to 2000 sq ft now.

 

That means we are about ready to move onto stage three of the project, which is design and fitting of a solar PV and battery system with the primary aim of future proofing against the rising cost of electricity going forward and maybe even eventually replacing our fairly new oil-fired heating for the main house. There is an inherent issue on that front as the underfloor heating system is designed for an oil-fired boiler and so the spacing of the pipes for the wet system is too widely spaced for the lower energy input of an ASHP based system. So that would be a stage four, if we ever get that far, and would demand some significant amount of building work, tearing up all of the floors and essentially putting in a completely new system.

 

So I'm re-reading this thread for real practical experiences of Solar PV-Battery systems and their workings. We had a visit yesterday from the first of what will be several companies to look at the job. I'm not going to say who, but the sales techniques were a little like the 1990's double glazing salesmen used, attempting to seal a deal there and then, after a visit which lasted nearly three hours.

[Tim Kearsley]

We had a 4kW PV system with 5kWh battery installed in January 2022.  It has proved, in my opinion, to be a very good investment.  We have two EV, so that's a factor which won't apply to everyone.  We moved on to a tariff with Octopus which gives us a flexible six-hour window (usually 2330 to 0530) at 7.5p/kWh (during which we charge the battery and car(s) if they need it and run dishwasher and washing machine.  Peak rate is just over 26p/kWh.  Also, the export rate is decent, at 15p/kWh. For the month of April, for example, we earned over £34 in export, though that was elevated a bit as we were away for a week.  In addition we've had a small involvement in the Demand Flexibility Service which has paid us a few quid for exporting during periods of high demand.

When we had the system installed the installer calculated a payback period of 12 years but I suspect that has reduced as prices have soared.