Is it worth opting into Power Move Flex with solar panels

At this time of year the rewards from Power Move Flex for most of us will be fairly minimal. That is due to lower energy use during the summer months. As Tessagam mentions with solar panels this may generate enough to cover current usage. There is nothing to lose by opting in, only a gain to be made. As the cooler months come along fairly soon the rewards may well start to grow.

Solar plus battery pack, so import hardly anything between 07:00 & 24:00 this time of year. Just get an odd spike when we turn on the kettle, coffee maker, hob or oven. Even the heat pump runs off the battery or solar during daylight hours.

Thank you ​@Tessagam for posting this comment as I have been thinking exactly the same and wondering if I’m missing something. I have solar panels and a storage battery but realised the first time I chose my x2 hour slots and put my washing machine and dishwasher on that actually all I was doing was using up power stored in my battery which I would then have to replace from solar generation later in the day at a “cost” to me, in that I could have been selling it to the grid

Whilst I realise it’s free to enter the promotion I don’t think it’s worth entering no, especially as it’s only x1 kWh that’s free, ie, about 23p max per slot. My bill showed I received 4p last month. 

Happy to be corrected by anyone if I am wrong in my thinking……..

With careful planning, anyone with solar + batteries could make the system take any ‘free’ power slots to charge the battery rather than use anything generated or stored.

If you have a FIT generation account (with whoever), you need to be careful if you have a ‘Net’ generation meter

​@BPLightlog you say ‘with careful planning’ and ‘anyone with solar + batteries’ but you haven’t said how……………….

How do I charge my battery with anything other than solar?

It will depend on your inverter.

With ours, I use a setting called ‘Charge Priority’ and this can be set for a time slot (on/off). You might also have something called ‘AC Charge’ which pulls power from the grid to charge the batteries - if solar generation is active, it supplements the charge level as well as supplying the home from the grid

Thank you for your reply ​@BPLightlog.

Is the inverter the item in my loft or in the meter cupboard outside? I realise, may be different for everyone. I have no clue as to how to adjust any settings for it.

I doubt it would be in the meter cupboard ​@Jasmin10 . It’s a control box of a fair size usually and you should have remote access via an app or web link.

Do you monitor what the system is doing at all? Mine has a visual image of the system and also it allows me to change settings (currently I’ve got it set to only charge the batteries to 65% so they aren’t constantly full in the current weather) 

Thank you for your reply ​@BPLightlog.

Is the inverter the item in my loft or in the meter cupboard outside? I realise, may be different for everyone. I have no clue as to how to adjust any settings for it.

I doubt it would be in the meter cupboard ​@Jasmin10 . It’s a control box of a fair size usually and you should have remote access via an app or web link.

Do you monitor what the system is doing at all? Mine has a visual image of the system and also it allows me to change settings (currently I’ve got it set to only charge the batteries to 65% so they aren’t constantly full in the current weather) 

 

Lol, thank you. I know what it is now and it’s in my loft. I have no remote access to it and have never been told I can. I have the Moixa app where I can monitor solar generation and it’s distribution, and battery level. I have no means of changing any settings of anything.

Jasmin.