Making the jump to solar

[Everest]

Just think of the power I could have generated today

52kWh so far and counting

 

[Black estate]

52kWh so far and counting

Got consultation on Friday

 

[Rolfe]

They haven't been replying to customers for some time.

I once got a reply several months after raising an issue, which had been resolved in the meantime by talking to one of their staff at an event stand.

This was last October and I was then recommended to join the Facebook group because that was the only place they regularly monitored at the time.

Don't know what would happen if they went out of business. Perhaps they would be bought out by the staff or a larger company, but possibly not.

The good news is that you can apparently control the equipment locally and there are several ways to do that.

But, in general, software support could become an issue when protocols change in the future.

I'm not on Facebook. I have no intention of joining Facebook. If I'd been informed that membership of Facebook was compulsory to get support for their equipment I'd have asked my installer to install something else.

 

[Susanna]

@Rolfe - I agree! So fed up with organisations telling us to ‘contact them on facebook/twitter…..’ whatever. No thanks! Answer your phone or reply to my email. It’s not rocket science.

 

[MattyS]

Just think of the power I could have generated today

I've been thinking about that. I've just set up a home assistant instance to track and control my imminent installation. I'd be able to run my house on solar, charge my battery AND export all at once . However I'm sitting here a bit annoyed that I don't have panels

 

[MattyS]

I'm not on Facebook. I have no intention of joining Facebook. If I'd been informed that membership of Facebook was compulsory to get support for their equipment I'd have asked my installer to install something else.

I've been trying to reduce my Facebook usage but my kids football team ONLY update parents via Facebook and it's infuriating.

 

[Rolfe]

@Rolfe - I agree! So fed up with organisations telling us to ‘contact them on facebook/twitter…..’ whatever. No thanks! Answer your phone or reply to my email. It’s not rocket science.

I've trolled them at least twice on Twitter (@ing them in when I've posted something complaining about them), but no response. You just have to say the word Octopus on Twitter and someone is asking you to DM them for a resolution, but I don't think GivEnergy are even monitoring their Twitter account now.

 

[Everest]

I don't think GivEnergy are even monitoring their Twitter account now

not looking good then

 

[Fokmg]

I live in west Wales, my cottage is south facing I have 5.4 kW PV array as I have some shading from chimneys I have used micro inverters that allow max utilisation of the sun . Last year I generated nearly 6 mega watt hours of power. I also use a pair of Tesla power walls to store up to 27kWh of energy. As I use Octopus Go Intelligent I am able to charge the car and fill the batteries for less than 7p per kWh. Last year I only had to buy 34 units at full price (28.5p each) the other 10,000+ cost between 0 and 7p. Happy days. Interestingly over 7 years I cannot detect any drop in the panel outputs. The battery has dropped 1/2% in 4 years.

 

[Everest]

Interestingly over 7 years i cannot detect any drop in the panel outputs. the battery has dropped 1/2% in 4 years

That's good to hear

 

[Gadget Geek]

When my original Powervault battery fell below the warranty amount of 70%, they ignored my emails requesting the unit be exchanged under their warranty.

I got a complaint letter template from moneysavingexpert and within the week I had a reply by post offering compensation or an unbeatable deal to upgrade to a new, bigger battery as they no longer made my unit (that's why they were ignoring me).

I was looking at other suppliers to upgrade my battery anyway, so I went with their upgrade, and because I was an unhappy customer, they couldn't do enough for me.

Oh, and apparently, the guy who had fobbed me off originally no longer worked for them (left under a cloud).

 

[Black estate]

I live in west wales, my cottage is south facing I have 5.4 Kw PV array as i have some shading from chimneys I have used micro inverters that allow max utilisation of the sun . Last year I generated nearly 6 mega watts of power. I also use a pair of Tesla power walls to store up to 27Kwh of power. as I use octopus go inteligent I am able to charge the car and fill the batteries for less than 7p per Kw. Last year i only had to buy 34 units at full price (28.5p ) the other 10,000+ cost between 0 and 7p. Happy days. Interestingly over 7 years i cannot detect any drop in the panel outputs. the battery has dropped 1/2% in 4 years .

Good to hear ,

 

[T1 Terry]

When my original Powervault battery fell below the warranty amount of 70%, they ignored my emails requesting the unit be exchanged under their warranty.

I got a complaint letter template from moneysavingexpert and within the week I had a reply by post offering compensation or an unbeatable deal to upgrade to a new, bigger battery as they no longer made my unit (that's why they were ignoring me).

I was looking at other suppliers to upgrade my battery anyway, so I went with their upgrade, and because I was an unhappy customer, they couldn't do enough for me.

Oh, and apparently, the guy who had fobbed me off originally no longer worked for them (left under a cloud).

Weather as per usual in the UK I believe

T1 Terry

 

[Giller]

Weather as per usual in the UK I believe

T1 Terry

Don't start, Storm Eddie is heading in and only getting over bloody Storm Dave, as an aside for the rest of the year the storm names to look forward to and who submitted them are:

Fionnuala (Fee-new-lah) (Met Éireann)
Gerard (Jer-ard) (Met Éireann)
Hannah (KNMI)
Isla (Met Office)
Janna (Yah-nah) (KNMI)
Kasia (Ka-shaa) (Met Éireann)
Lilith (KNMI)
Marty (Met Éireann)
Nico (KNMI)
Oscar (Met Office)
Patrick (Met Éireann)
Ruby (Met Office)
Stevie (Met Office)
Tadhg (Tie-g) (Met Éireann)
Violet (Met Office)
Wubbo (Vuh-boh) (KNMI)

 

[T1 Terry]

Don't start, Storm Eddie is heading in and only getting over bloody Storm Dave, as an aside for the rest of the year the storm names to look forward to and who submitted them are:

Fionnuala (Fee-new-lah) (Met Éireann)
Gerard (Jer-ard) (Met Éireann)
Hannah (KNMI)
Isla (Met Office)
Janna (Yah-nah) (KNMI)
Kasia (Ka-shaa) (Met Éireann)
Lilith (KNMI)
Marty (Met Éireann)
Nico (KNMI)
Oscar (Met Office)
Patrick (Met Éireann)
Ruby (Met Office)
Stevie (Met Office)
Tadhg (Tie-g) (Met Éireann)
Violet (Met Office)
Wubbo (Vuh-boh) (KNMI)

You people name your storms, it needs to be a cat 2 cyclone/hurricane to qualify for name over here, otherwise it is just a tropical storm with constant wind speeds up to 125km/h, any less than that, it's "expect wind and rain with gusts up to 125km/h" ..... don't even get a weather warning if it doesn't reach those numbers ... do get a few cat 5 weather events, constant winds exceeding 280km/h ..... you watch out for those and avoid travelling in the area, you can be certain even the highways would be under water when they come through ....

T1 Terry

 

[Rolfe]

They only started doing that recently. Wimps.