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Rank 1
September 3, 2024

Solar panels + battery from Ovo: good or bad?

  • September 3, 2024
  • 22 replies
  • 2770 views

We’re considering getting solar panels and battery from Ovo (we’re existing customers). Does anyone who’s already gone down this road have any thoughts - good or bad - on how it’s going for them? Thanks!

22 replies

Rank 4
October 1, 2024

Well it’s taken a while, but I’ve now got a reasonable quote - I think.

6.45kW PV (15 *HTB* Longi HiMo6 Explorer 430W panels), 5.8kwH SolaX Triple 5.8kWh LFP battery, SolaX X1 G4 6.0D hybrid Inverter - £10,800 total cost.

Does that stack up? Comments welcome!

One immediate question I have is - during the winter, when the PV won’t generate much at all, I guess it makes sense to charge the battery overnight using cheaper off-peak electricity. But does OVO have a tariff or a bolt-on extra that allows this?

BPLightlog
Super User
Super User
October 1, 2024

I’d say ‘well done’ on perseverance @MikeyB , that looks a decent system and being hybrid, it should be flexible should you want to add further battery capacity too. 
One thing unfortunately on the solar tariff is that I don’t know of one from OVO (that’s the main reason I switched). You are correct that moving towards winter, you should look to charge at ‘off peak’ rates (at least). Then the calculation is often, how much to charge which can depend on weather forecast, cloud cover, expected usage etc. 

One thing I would suggest is that you make sure that the installer shows you how to adjust settings via the app and also that you’re able to see generation, usage etc as we have seen several who don’t know how to access and operate the system. 

Bring me Sunshine ~ E&E {Solar PV, Battery Storage, Hybrid EV, ASHP and Home Assistant automation}