Do you have Solar Panels & Charge Anytime? We’d love to hear your thoughts

Hey ​@Janm12, 

Thanks for reaching out, i’ve sent you a private message! 

Hi

I have Hypervolt 3pro, Nissan Ariya ev and solar panels. I would be happy to take part in this survey/trial. My issue and may be my failure to understand the app properly, but I can’t charge the car on solar only because the app defaults to charging in smart mode. Hypervolt functions are disabled by OVO app. Simon

Hey ​@simon63,

Check your inbox for a private message! 

Just something to note actually - Hypervolt suggests that you let the Charger do its own thing when integrated with Charge Anytime in terms of what sources it pulls from. It usually knows what’s best for itself!

But if you can’t get it to pull from Solar, make sure both the CT Clamps are set up correctly!

Hi, 

I would be interested in being involved in the survey/trial. 

I was just about to accept a quote for Ovo solar installation, and had been advised I can still charge my Tesla using the Ovo Charge Anytime tariff. After reading this forum, it appear I cannot do this as I use a granny charger. I won't be proceeding with my order until the tariff is available with solar. 

Thanks, 

Hi ​@Khay 

Tricky situation with a low power or “granny” charger. It might be possible to use Charge Anytime with one of those if your car is compatible with CA. It will be on the list of compatible cars.

However, you can't integrate solar power with that arrangement. For that you will need a compatible charge point like a Zappi as an example and control the CP and not the car.

Peter

Just a heads up - if you plan to use OVO Charge Anytime and Solar at the same time, you’ll need to use either an Indra or Hypervolt charger such as the ones OVO sells. You don’t have to buy the Charger via OVO (although you can if you want to) but you must use one of the ones listed on https://www.ovoenergy.com/electric-cars/smart-charger as being Solar Compatible if you want to have CA as well.

Almost all Tesla vehicles right back to 2012 are CA compatible, but not if you have Solar.

Thank you for the advice Peter and Blastoise. Seems I have an additional cost consideration in buying a compatible CA charger, to consider!

Indeed. Personally, I’d suggest leaning towards Hypervolt because we’ve seen they have better customer support, a more reliable product, better Charge Anytime integration and ultimately a better overall experience. This is based on the feedback we’ve seen on the Forum.

But you should also do your own research...

Buying a compatible charge point is a significant cost and it depends on the economics of doing that regarding the mileage you do etc. Research is really important. Also CPs have a finite life as they spend all their time out in all weathers. I would expect one to last between 5 and 10 years but they have been known to fail just outside of the warranty period as well.

One of the other routes is to get an E7 tariff with a cheap, dumb CP and export whatever solar you don’t use. It is very hard if not impossible to find the best combination of EV charging, solar (use and/or export), battery (if you do that) if they are all interactive. EV charging from solar has been tried by many people but it really doesn’t work that well.

A good forum for information on what has been tried is SpeakEV.

Peter

I gather customers with solar panels are now eligible for Charge Anytime but only if they have a specific charger. Ohme chargers still appear to be incompatible although from speaking to Ovo today this is a software issue which both Ovo & Ohme are looking to resolve.

I spoke to someone at Ohme today also and they were unaware of the issue and said their chargers were fully solar compatible and so did not understand Ovo’s current policy.

Can anyone confirm when this Ovo/Ohme solar compatibility issue will be resolved?

I have just switched to Ovo in advance of picking up my first EV (with Volkswagen who provide the Ohme charger at no cost to me) at the end of next month and OVO’s Charge Anytime and partnership with VW seemed like too good an offer to refuse. I wish I had read the small print before signing now.

Sorry for the rant but would love to hear more on this issue.

PS - on the phone with Ovo just now who called me back as I typed this up. They are kindly registering a complaint in any case. Will update here if there’s more to say.

PPS - the customer service so far has been exceptional with Ovo and I really would love to stay and not look elsewhere because of this solar thing.

test

Hi, I've just heard back from my Solar installation agent, who went away and has confirmed that charge anytime is compatible with solar (in my case, via my Tesla car, not an EV charger), and it's only the battery boost that isn't compatible with CA. Ovo, can you confirm? 

At Chris, are you able to confirm the above please? 

Hey ​@Khay,

I’m confused what you’re asking me to confirm? Could you elaborate and give me some more information? 

Hi Chris, 

I need to confirm whether Charge Anytime is available (via a compatible car only, not a compatible EV wall charger), with a solar (inc. battery) installation.

This forum seems to suggest it is not, however I have had an Ovo solar sales rep make enquiries and confirm that it is. They state the only element it is not compatible with is battery boost.

Many Thanks. 

Hey ​@Khay, 

Charge Anytime is only compatible with a solar compatible charger. You can read this yourself under section 5.6 of the Terms and Conditions.

“5.6 Only electricity that has been used from the grid for Smart Charging will be considered in the Charge Anytime Credit calculation. For customers who have solar PV installed in their home, OVO can only currently offer Charge Anytime Credits where the charger is a solar-compatible Indra, Hypervolt or Andersen charger (displayed as ‘solar-compatible’ on this list). Your charger may also require a house current clamp installation. All other local solar energy that goes into EV charging will be excluded from the Charge Anytime Credit calculation.”

I hope this helps clear things up for you! 

Hi ​@Gwallace,

If you read ​@Chris_OVO’s latest post in this thread you’ll see a link to the Solar-compatible chargers. Unfortunately the Ohme chargers we offer are not compatible with Solar through Charge Anytime at the moment. If you’ve logged a complaint with Charge Anytime I imagine they’ll get back to you with some further info. I’ve asked internally myself for more info and will be sure to let you know as soon  I’ve heard anything.

I believe some of the terminology used may be a cause of confusion. 
Solar compatibility can refer to a few things and certainly the system will operate with solar PV installed at the property. 
The difficulty comes with the system for crediting usage on Charge Anytime - the billing system needs to be able to differentiate the source of the power (solar or grid) and that’s why it’s necessary to use the specific chargers indicated to enable the recorded usage to be correct. 

​@Gwallace just to let you know I’ve heard back from the Charge Anytime team. They’ve advised that the way Charge Anytime is set up with Ohme means that it’s not Solar compatible. They’ve also advised that they don’t know when it will be and, indeed, if it ever will be. I’m sorry - I know this isn’t the news you wanted to hear 😞

Hi ​@Ben_OVO 

Thanks for responding.

Charge Anytime actually logged a complaint on my behalf without me asking which was great.

All I and I’m sure others would like to know is a rough estimate of if and when the compatibility issue will be resolved. As I think I mentioned on my earlier post, Ohme themselves stated to me that they have no compatibility issues with Ovo and solar so this conflicting information is very worrying.

Thanks for asking for more info internally. 

😓

​@Chris_OVO sorry, why is this information liked?

I have provided Ohme with the link to this thread via their webchat. They also advised this must be a new issue as they were unaware of it. They are, “going to ask the energy team here to look into the OVO anytime tariff and how it operates with solar” and get back to me. Will try to remember and update here after.

Ohme yesterday to me, “I've got confirmation that solar boost is not currently available with our chargers and OVO anytime. Effectively the way that their tariff is set up means that they don't allow us to enable solar boost as it would affect the way the tariff works. As this is effectively an OVO decision there's not much we can do our end. Sorry that there's some conflicting information out there I'm going to see if we can make it much clearer on our website and help centre articles”