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Cool, looking at Octopus website one needs an EV to get the "Go" tariff and alas out of my budget to buy one of them :( "Have an electric car and a home EV charger" EDIT: Just watched your earlier video where you talk about this.

likely a difference from weather... but I have a 5.5kw system and from jan 19th to feb1st, I got around 180kwh from solar.

Who paid you to discourse this crap.

Solar is great in sunny climate like the Sahara.

WHEN you get an EV, make sure it has either V2L or V2G, that way you can use the car as an additional battery for the house.

Stick with Go

I have had exactly the same sytem for 18 months and it has been great. An EV increases the savings because the cheap night rate for charging saves more per kwh for fuel than it does versus the normal grid tariff. I highly recommend exporting maximum and using the cheap night rate every night to fiil the battery, chsrge EV and dishwasher etc. This maximises your savings and also importantly maximises the benefit to help balance the national grid.

7kw for 12 days is absolutely terrible. You say you have a 4 kw array . And it was between April and September. I have just a 5kw array with half the panels facing north . On 1 day in June I got 40 kws .on the whole of June I made nearly 764.2 kilowatts. So on average for 12 days in June I made 305 kilowatts. April i made 596 kilowatts. So 12 days in April I made on average 238.4 kilowatts

Since I have gotten my solar I'm worse. I want the bills lower. Selling no point in wasting it

You mean kilowatt hours of course 🙂

I would never do solar without batteries I don't know how people pass up on that peace of mind

Are you getting a gateway fitted

I'm just over a year ahead of you in my journey, and if I remember correctly, Octopus paid me for my back-dated export. Heat pump is next on the list..

Very interesting Jacob. However, what you have not taken into account is opportunity cost of the growth you will miss out on of your £9k. Invested in a stocks and shares ISA for 7.5 years it could realistically grow to £13k (5% growth rate). So in actual fact it’s going to take more like 15 years at least to get back what it has cost you.

Get your self a Ev car then you will have free fuel

Jeez. Your expenses are super low

It's funny how a people get excited about solar. I give it 8 months before you upgrade your inverter. It gets strangely addictive

Congrats on your new system 🎉 It's a joy to see how happy you are with it. The electric heaters are your first step into getting a heat pump. Ours takes around 2kwh to heat the entire house (3kwh when it's below freezing) but can also turn that excess energy into heating the hot water tank for showers and baths etc

In a world where many are tortured buy high energy costs, it’s uplifting to hear about your positive journey! 👍🏻 Each day I used to run around the house switching each light the kiddies left on, off… …but now I simply don’t care, and even better I think what can I do with the energy freedom to better my families quality of life :)

I predict you'll have a heatpump within two years :) get off that gas standing charge :)

Have a read up on the difference between Kw and kWh…. One thing that really grinds my gears in these solar videos 😂

thats low good budgeting, I live on my own in Birmingham in a 1 bed flat, i spend close to 1,700 per month!! I wish i didn’t get this flat though service charges killer!!!

If you don't charge your batteries as much overnight then you wouldn't export as much and wouldn't have to use electric heaters. You do have to guess how much your going to generate the next day though. E.g. If you think your going to generate 5kwh the next day then only charge your battery up to 50% overnight.

I have a 4kW solar system without a battery. From October to March, it generates very little electricity, but from April to September, the output is much higher. Generating 72kWh in just 12 days in January is impressive, though we have had quite a few sunny days. I also have an iBoost that diverts excess solar energy to heat my hot water tank. Over the past 10 years, it has put more than 12,000kWh from my solar panels into the tank.

thanks for yet another great video. i'm currently on intelligent go (7p off-peak overnight), would you say worth considering buying a battery to store the cheap off peak elecrticity without any solar panels? will it significally reduce system cost or actually the panels are not that expensive compared to the rest of the system?

Hi Jacob, would it not be beneficial to continue to use the electric heaters even when you have your paybck sorted out as it'll either be free from solar or 8.5p per kw nighttime price. I guess you'll have to look at the numbers but it may be cheaper than gas. It maybe not much difference to running a heatpump

I've just had heat pump powered central heating installed and I'm already seeing a substantial cost saving. My whole house is warm and I have hot water for around 25% less than I was paying before where I was heating only the livi ng room. I'm getting my solar and battery installed next week. I was ready to move to Octopus because everyone seems to go that way. I didn't even think about looking at my current electricity provider, OVO until I watched a HeatGeek video this morning. I then called OVO and they are offering all of my heat pump electricity at 15p per kWh. Once we are all done, I think I'm going to be paying a few quid each week instead of £100. It's been a bit of hassle getting to the right tariff but I think I'm nearly there. I've also got my EV on OVO Charge Anytime so 7p Kwh for that also.

So, Air Source Heat Pump next? Glad your solar is working for you even in this dull month. It will only get better as the year progresses. I did Solar 10 years ago, heat pump 7 years ago and next week I get my EV charger (and Electric car is on order) then Octopus Intelligent Go.

Octopus Collective!!!

Yes, if you can retire debt-free and assuming you either own the roof over your head or have it covered by some sort of benefit payment. In those circumstances the state pension should give you a comfortable, warm home and food on the table and some budget holidays. I cycle camp so holidays will be weekends away with a couple of week long camping holidays. I can’t see me having a car in retirement, they are money pits and I’m tired of driving after 47 years of it 🙂

£375 per week is what Im struggling to live on a single man with disabilities who has to visit the pub daily to stay warm. State pension, Pip & pension credit adds up to this small amount of money I am struggling to live on this these days. Thankfully I cashed my private pension in several years ago meening I no longer paying council tax saving me £1700 yearly on the house I own so will invest that funding into a months holiday in Asia again to stay warm, as the price of heating is crazy these days.

The UK state pension is a gigantic Ponzi scheme which is a massive burden on the younger generation, who are paying into the system not to benefit their own retirement, but to pay for the pensions of current retirees. However, the combination of an aging population and a falling birth rate means that the system is becoming increasingly unsustainable and is approaching breaking point. When the young people of today reach retirement age, they are at real risk of them not having any pension at all, despite having paid into the system all their lives. I say this as someone who is lucky enough to have a reasonable SIPP, and who is approaching retirement age. I feel entitled to claim the State Pension because I have paid into the system all my life (I had no choice), and have a full entitlement according to the Dept for Work & Pensions. But I feel the system is rotten and deeply unfair to the younger generation.

Whats the point in saving? So i can pay for everyone else who doesn’t, sounds fair 😂 also locking our PRIVATE pensions away and then upping the age you can access it is so frustrating.

😁😁😁 Excellent to see a happy solar producing home....on the warranty, i guess tho if the companies were out of business in say 20 years the warranty might then be void?....on the energy independence, can u use your stored battery energy if the grid has a blackout?...finally, im guessing the people with north facing roof panels make their power mostly when the sun is at its highest in the summer months? Great vid, carry on telling us how things go👍

Is the setup usable when power is cut , or don’t you have a gateway style system

Good video, welcome to the club. Interesting to know that solar panels are cheaper than roof tiles. North facing is interesting and seems to a 20% loss at the peak of summer but better overall yield over the year, this is based on a couple of you tube videos. Payback is interesting, any power you do not pay for is power you do not need to earn to pay for or pay income tax.

Just purchase a electric bike 👍👍

Personally optimisers and micro inverters isn't something i would go for. But that's my opinion

The cost of everything has come down. Probably 50% cheaper than 2 years ago

Thanks for the update. You won't regret. We are heavy users, typically 13000kWh per annum. So my bills prior to solar and batteries were around £3k pa. Had 7.2kWp south facing system installed by E.ON in Aug 23. Also had 3x 9.5kWh Giv batteries installed. 2024 totals were: consumed 13450kWh of which car was 3171kWh. Solar generated 7162kWh. Imported at cheap rate of 7p 9160kWh, Exported at 15p 2960kWh. So my total bill was £276 plus £200 SC. Ran car at average mileage of 650miles at about £14 per month. Gamechangers: 1: having the 3 batteries (they have never run out), 2: Being on Octopus Intelligent Go also get lots of extra cheap slots in addition to the 6 hours from the Wallbox Pulsar Plus. Also have 2 of the house ring mains on EPS so power cuts leave us with lights and lots of sockets. And as for winter, last Thursday (30th Jan 2025) my system generated 30.8kWh and today (Sun 2/2 will be close to or better than that! Enjoy your system.

I’ve just done my end of 2024 numbers. I used an export heavy model. Grid power used 7841kwh for £933.72 average 11.9p per kWh Solar and battery power export 4268kwh earned £674.54 Nett electricity cost £259.18 Total electricity used 8360kwh 3.1p average (8360/259.18) Very happy with that from our 5.6kwp SE facing system !

Dude....I hope you've not just wrecked it for everyone on Go without an ev lol....Shoulda kept that one under your hat

Just great to hear about your installation . Yes it does get addictive I’ve had solar since 2011. Then a givenergy 9.5 then another 9.5 then Givenergy car charger then Air to Air ASHP now hopefully north facing array going up this year. You only live once and the pleasure it gives me is immeasurable 😂 as well as the savings. I am though having another 3.6 Ac coupled inverter fitted as the two batteries can only charge to about 75% in the winter on octopus go. I will then also be able to draw 6kw into the house from the batteries all pending DNO approval.

Is 5.7kw allowed on a domestic roof. I thought the maximum solar PV install limit was 3.7kw

I’m 40 bought my first house 30 and we’ve always loved everything off the mortgage for us. This has been brilliant. A lot of people don’t know that if you stay with the same lender you’re overpayments will count as a credit we recently went self-employed and I spoke to the lender about a payment holiday because of the overpayment we made meant we were 26 years in credit so I treat this as a free insurance policy! . We then immediately canceled the direct debit and set up a standing order to pay whatever we feel like each month there’s a minimum we choose to pay the interest which is £300 a month at 4.99% . The equity we have coupled with the credit in the mortgage means it’s no longer a priority at all. This means I have less pressure to earn money . We could pretty much clear the mortgage but like you, I’m in a conundrum and have some longtime shares which I like keeping hold of. Since going self-employed, our family income is just 25 grand a year but that’s plenty when your mortgage is just £300 a month and both your income within the personal tax allowance

A good cheat with intelligent go is when your charging your car on a cheap electric ie when you have a cheap slot, no matter what time of day the whole house gets the cheap rate also 😉

Thanks for another great video, setup looks excellent. Is there any tool that can help estimate ROI based on my specific use case (roof location etc..)

Third 👏

Hi, just asking if you know the life cycle of your battery before you have to change it .

solar in uk not for me live thailand solar ?cheap from grid no solar have the money cheap from china yes did buy made in china EV super car more fun MG 550 hp allwhel drive sax doors and what ever easy take down the roof cheap only 70 000 $$$$$ 0-100 3 sek more fun then solar panels hope its work out for you