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Solar panels and Total Heat Total Control (THTC)- How do they work together?

H
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How do solar panels work with the two meters that I have which are called total heat total control? 
Can anyone explain how it works and how they fit it to the meters? 
 

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Best answer by Abby_OVO 3 April 2024, 12:16

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Blastoise186
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Welcome @Hels24 ,

I’m one of the Forum Volunteers here.

Right now might not be the best time to install solar panels if you’ve got THTC. With the RTS Shutdown round the corner and the need to get you upgraded to THTC capable Smart Meters being high priority, you may want to wait a bit longer and do the meter upgrade first.

I’ll ask @BPLightlog to stop by though - he might be able to advise a bit more than I can.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
H
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I’m getting them through funding…and when I spoke to someone at OVO about the shutdown they had no idea when it was likely to happen because and what she said is they have literally nothing to replace them with at the moment…

H
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Thank you…I’m just so confused at the minute..

Blastoise186
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An upgrade path for the meters is close to being ready. :)

Watch this space.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
BPLightlog
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Hi @Hels24 , you should be able to have the solar PV system set up but it probably won’t be able to give you any export tariff (SEG).

You will need a separate monitor to look at solar feed but that is often provided as a link via the inverter. Failing that your installer could fit a generation meter but that is not really needed. 
 

Independent volunteer - Sitting in a Faraday cage, waiting for a signal
H
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Ok…thank you for that…it’s tricky getting your head round it all :-)

Abby_OVO
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Hey @Hels24 

 

Welcome to the Forum

 

It can definitely be tricky getting your head around all things solar, but we’re all here to help make that a little easier if we can.

 

Having THTC does make this a little more challenging as some of the others have already mentioned, you can read more about it on this homepage too.

 

We’ve got a helpful topic on complex meter types such as Total Heat Total Control: 

 

As Blastoise186 mentioned, we’re currently working on a replacement for THTC meters and will update customers and any related pages when we have more.

 

I also wanted to link to some topics which share other users’ experiences of having solar panels fitted etc so you’ve got as much information before you make a decision:

 

 

I hope some of this has been helpful to you, but if you’ve got any other questions, just let us know.🙂

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BPLightlog
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Just one thing to reiterate @Hels24 , with your meter set up it’s doubtful you would be able to get an export tariff despite some of the info above. You would still benefit from the solar feed during decent generating days of course and if these have some additional funding for you it’s probably still worth going for. 

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T
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We are in the same boat - funding for solar panels added to an existing THTC system. We’ve been advised that we can’t use the solar electricity generated ourselves and must export it all at 4p/kWh! Then we buy it back at 23p/kWh. Surely this can’t be right?

Can anyone confirm?

Blastoise186
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You’d probably be able to use it yourself but I can’t be 100% certain.

However, if you are on THTC then it’s possible that constraints from the DNO may prevent you from having Solar Exports at all.

With that being said, some THTC Meters can’t cope with exports very well. Proceed with caution.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
T
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Proceed with caution is good advice but too late unfortunately. Not really concerned about exporting - with storage heaters there won’t be anything left to export. This was all recommended as part of the ECO scheme. Guess we’ll find out soon enough😬

ChristopherS_OVO
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Hey @ToSH67,

 

Keep us updated on your findings; you have a more complex setup than most. I have added a couple of badges to your profile to let others know you have solar panels and heat storage. 

 

It would be great to hear your feedback and thoughts on your journey!

 

T
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I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes!

C
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Our solar panels provide power for our storage heaters, panel heaters, hot water and charge our car. Unfortunately we can't use the electricity for the rest of the household appliances.  They work very well and save a considerable amount of money. We try to use most of our production because we don't get anything when we send it to the grid. In the summer we do have to put a lot to the grid and it's painful to see how much we are giving away to OVO for nothing. They get it free and then sell itl!!  We had hoped to have a smart meter ages ago but the RTS switch off keeps being postponed. Hopefully we will be paid for exporting electricity when we eventually get a smart meter.

Blastoise186
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Actually, in this situation OVO gets nothing for it either. They cannot buy the power from you nor sell it to anyone else without a FiT/SEG Contract in place, so you’re basically sending super green eco juice to the National Grid for free - no-one is explicitly buying it.

Given that the FiT/SEG Contract and Export Supplier doesn’t have to be with your Import Supplier, you DO NOT automatically get Export Accounts created just because you’re with OVO - you must manually set one up with whoever you choose to Export with.

If anything, someone else on the National Grid is probably gobbling up the generated power for free and raking in profits - but I doubt it’s OVO.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
T
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Thanks, Cassie511, that’s actually really encouraging as I doubt there’ll much for us to export and just charging the storage heaters would be good enough. Feeling more optimistic!🤞 

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