In previous blog posts I’ve explained about both my Solar Array and my Battery Install.
In these two articles I detail the specifications about the installs; size, direction of panels, photos etc.
Recently I’d been asked how much solar do I generate and how does the recent addition of battery and our EV impact the export numbers, so here you go.
As detailed in the Solar post, my system was installed in September 2018. But it took me a month or so to get my monitoring system all up and running. So the first full month data I have is November 2018 onwards.
I create all these stats and figures by using the data from my Open Energy Monitoring emonPi system. This CT clamp based is constantly monitoring the ins and out of my solar setup (and import/export, to/from battery and even EV).
Any device you attach a CT clamp to can be monitored individually.
You can read all about their open source hardware and software here: https://guide.openenergymonitor.org/applications/solar-pv/
If you’re into system stats I can’t recommend the emonPi system highly enough. It’s absolutely top notch.
I am also a big fan of the PVOutput platform: https://pvoutput.org/
Where you can create text based lists like the following. This shows my top 20 days of generation.
Now you shouldn’t plan your solar install and usage patterns around days like these, because they are rare. But these days are definitely when you want a hot water cylinder, battery or EV to put all the excess.
Here’s a quick summary of our hardware installation timeline.
Here’s a short description of the columns shown in the tables below. Note, all figures are kWh unless otherwise stated.
| Year | Gen | Avg Gen | Cons | Avg Cons | Import | Avg Import | Export | Avg Export | Export % of Gen |
| 2019 | 4244 | 11.6 | 3406 | 9.3 | 2044 | 5.6 | 2881 | 7.9 | 68% |
| 2020 | 4324 | 11.8 | 5298 | 14.5 | 2494 | 6.8 | 1517 | 4.2 | 35% |
| 2021 | 4151 | 11.4 | 6719 | 18.4 | 3088 | 8.5 | 518 | 1.4 | 12% |
| 2022 | 4419 | 12.1 | 10293 | 28.2 | 6361 | 17.4 | 483 | 1.3 | 11% |
| 2023 | 4065 | 11.1 | 10297 | 28.2 | 6541 | 17.9 | 310 | 0.8 | 8% |
| Month & Year | Gen | Avg Gen | Cons | Avg Cons | Import | Avg Import | Export | Avg Export | Export % of Gen |
| Nov-2018 | 110 | 3.7 | 293 | 9.8 | 242 | 8.1 | 59 | 2.0 | 54% |
| Dec-2018 | 89 | 2.9 | 331 | 10.7 | 280 | 9.0 | 38 | 1.2 | 43% |
| Month & Year | Gen | Avg Gen | Cons | Avg Cons | Import | Avg Import | Export | Avg Export | Export % of Gen |
| Jan-2019 | 119 | 3.8 | 314 | 10.1 | 255 | 8.2 | 60 | 1.9 | 50% |
| Feb-2019 | 254 | 9.1 | 292 | 10.4 | 190 | 6.8 | 152 | 5.4 | 60% |
| Mar-2019 | 398 | 12.8 | 331 | 10.7 | 187 | 6.0 | 253 | 8.2 | 64% |
| Apr-2019 | 494 | 16.5 | 287 | 9.6 | 126 | 4.2 | 332 | 11.1 | 67% |
| May-2019 | 545 | 17.6 | 268 | 8.6 | 112 | 3.6 | 390 | 12.6 | 72% |
| Jun-2019 | 476 | 15.9 | 255 | 8.5 | 108 | 3.6 | 330 | 11.0 | 69% |
| Jul-2019 | 560 | 18.1 | 253 | 8.2 | 110 | 3.5 | 417 | 13.5 | 74% |
| Aug-2019 | 562 | 18.1 | 254 | 8.2 | 107 | 3.5 | 415 | 13.4 | 74% |
| Sep-2019 | 411 | 13.7 | 259 | 8.6 | 139 | 4.6 | 290 | 9.7 | 71% |
| Oct-2019 | 246 | 7.9 | 237 | 7.6 | 159 | 5.1 | 168 | 5.4 | 68% |
| Nov-2019 | 83 | 2.8 | 315 | 10.5 | 266 | 8.9 | 34 | 1.1 | 41% |
| Dec-2019 | 96 | 3.1 | 341 | 11.0 | 285 | 9.2 | 40 | 1.3 | 42% |
| Total | 4244 | 3406 | 2044 | 2881 | 68% |
First full year of the system generating 4244kWh through the year. I was delighted with that.
This was before batteries and the EV, so you can see that I exported a whopping 68% of what we generated, so only 32% used in the house? Grrrrr!!
Even in darkest December 50% of what I generated went back to the grid.
| Month & Year | Gen | Avg Gen | Cons | Avg Cons | Import | Avg Import | Export | Avg Export | Export % of Gen |
| Jan-2020 | 114 | 3.7 | 312 | 10.1 | 254 | 8.2 | 56 | 1.8 | 49% |
| Feb-2020 | 205 | 7.3 | 326 | 11.6 | 218 | 7.8 | 96 | 3.4 | 47% |
| Mar-2020 | 411 | 13.3 | 385 | 12.4 | 111 | 3.6 | 136 | 4.4 | 33% |
| Apr-2020 | 586 | 19.5 | 388 | 12.9 | 78 | 2.6 | 276 | 9.2 | 47% |
| May-2020 | 694 | 22.4 | 402 | 13.0 | 37 | 1.2 | 329 | 10.6 | 47% |
| Jun-2020 | 514 | 17.1 | 405 | 13.5 | 136 | 4.5 | 245 | 8.2 | 48% |
| Jul-2020 | 515 | 16.6 | 418 | 13.5 | 67 | 2.2 | 164 | 5.3 | 32% |
| Aug-2020 | 468 | 15.1 | 459 | 14.8 | 113 | 3.6 | 121 | 3.9 | 26% |
| Sep-2020 | 432 | 14.4 | 480 | 16.0 | 126 | 4.2 | 78 | 2.6 | 18% |
| Oct-2020 | 186 | 6.0 | 596 | 19.2 | 419 | 13.5 | 9 | 0.3 | 5% |
| Nov-2020 | 120 | 4.0 | 507 | 16.9 | 389 | 13.0 | 2 | 0.1 | 2% |
| Dec-2020 | 79 | 2.5 | 620 | 20.0 | 546 | 17.6 | 5 | 0.2 | 6% |
| Total | 4324 | 5298 | 2494 | 1517 | 35% |
The second full year shows we generated another healthy 4324kWh, but we only exported 35% of it back to the grid.
So 65% used in the house because of the batteries and EV coming into play throughout the year.
But despite onsite usage going up, so did energy imported. This will be charging the EV at off peak times.
You can see this in the jump in consumption figures too.
Look at December this time around, just 5kWh sent back to the grid. That’s better!!
| Month & Year | Gen | Avg Gen | Cons | Avg Cons | Import | Avg Import | Export | Avg Export | Export % of Gen |
| Jan-2021 | 95 | 3.1 | 597 | 19.3 | 504 | 16.3 | 2 | 0.1 | 2% |
| Feb-2021 | 190 | 6.8 | 476 | 17.0 | 294 | 10.5 | 8 | 0.3 | 4% |
| Mar-2021 | 349 | 11.3 | 566 | 18.3 | 270 | 8.7 | 53 | 1.7 | 15% |
| Apr-2021 | 571 | 19.0 | 499 | 16.6 | 41 | 1.4 | 114 | 3.8 | 20% |
| May-2021 | 500 | 16.1 | 596 | 19.2 | 170 | 5.5 | 73 | 2.4 | 15% |
| Jun-2021 | 585 | 19.5 | 550 | 18.3 | 100 | 3.3 | 135 | 4.5 | 23% |
| Jul-2021 | 568 | 18.3 | 610 | 19.7 | 114 | 3.7 | 72 | 2.3 | 13% |
| Aug-2021 | 432 | 13.9 | 500 | 16.1 | 106 | 3.4 | 37 | 1.2 | 9% |
| Sep-2021 | 387 | 12.9 | 482 | 16.1 | 107 | 3.6 | 12 | 0.4 | 3% |
| Oct-2021 | 269 | 8.7 | 602 | 19.4 | 341 | 11.0 | 8 | 0.3 | 3% |
| Nov-2021 | 137 | 4.6 | 613 | 20.4 | 479 | 16.0 | 2 | 0.1 | 1% |
| Dec-2021 | 68 | 2.2 | 628 | 20.3 | 562 | 18.1 | 2 | 0.1 | 3% |
| Total | 4151 | 11.4 | 6719 | 18.4 | 3088 | 8.5 | 518 | 1.4 | 12% |
Lower than average generation, but exports now down to just 12%. Goal for 2022 is reduce that further.
| Month & Year | Gen | Avg Gen | Cons | Avg Cons | Import | Avg Import | Export | Avg Export | Export % of Gen |
| Jan-2022 | 151 | 4.9 | 647 | 20.9 | 511 | 16.5 | 14 | 0.5 | 9% |
| Feb-2022 | 203 | 7.3 | 912 | 32.6 | 715 | 25.5 | 6 | 0.2 | 3% |
| Mar-2022 | 400 | 12.9 | 928 | 29.9 | 553 | 17.8 | 25 | 0.8 | 6% |
| Apr-2022 | 516 | 17.2 | 849 | 28.3 | 374 | 12.5 | 41 | 1.4 | 8% |
| May-2022 | 553 | 17.8 | 832 | 26.8 | 324 | 10.5 | 45 | 1.5 | 8% |
| Jun-2022 | 566 | 18.9 | 741 | 24.7 | 217 | 7.2 | 42 | 1.4 | 7% |
| Jul-2022 | 565 | 18.2 | 666 | 21.5 | 215 | 6.9 | 113 | 3.6 | 20% |
| Aug-2022 | 601 | 19.4 | 725 | 23.4 | 271 | 8.7 | 146 | 4.7 | 24% |
| Sep-2022 | 379 | 12.6 | 751 | 25.0 | 387 | 12.9 | 15 | 0.5 | 4% |
| Oct-2022 | 291 | 9.4 | 807 | 26.0 | 546 | 17.6 | 29 | 0.9 | 10% |
| Nov-2022 | 101 | 3.4 | 983 | 32.8 | 884 | 29.5 | 2 | 0.1 | 2% |
| Dec-2022 | 93 | 3.0 | 1452 | 46.8 | 1364 | 44.0 | 5 | 0.2 | 5% |
| Total | 4419 | 12.1 | 10293 | 28.2 | 6361 | 17.4 | 483 | 1.3 | 11% |
Feb 2022 sees a massive hike in consumption and import as we install a Mixergy water cylinder that we are heating on a combination of overnight electricity and surplus solar.
Still delighted that the exports are low though, with the myenergi Eddi diverting lots of surplus solar into the Mixergy.
July and August exports not as low as hoped, but we were away for a few weeks, so no hot water or EV dumping available.
You can read all about the water cylinder install here: https://energy-stats.uk/plant-room-project/
October saw us ripping out our 32kW combi boiler and replacing it with a 5kW Vaillant Arotherm heat pump. This will obviously have a big effect on our electricity consumption moving forward. The figures will be very interesting how the batteries, solar and time of use tariffs play together.
November and especially December see a giant jump in consumption due to the cold spell (-3C) and the heat pump doing its thing. It sill managed a COP of 3.4 despite the cold weather.
Solar generation for 2022 turned out to be our biggest year to date, so that’s nice.
2023 will be the first full year with the heat pump. So will be interesting to see how that goes.
| Month & Year | Gen | Avg Gen | Cons | Avg Cons | Import | Avg Import | Export | Avg Export | Export % of Gen |
| Jan-2023 | 144 | 4.6 | 1397 | 45.1 | 1262 | 40.7 | 9 | 0.3 | 6% |
| Feb-2023 | 189 | 6.8 | 1009 | 36.0 | 830 | 29.6 | 11 | 0.4 | 6% |
| Mar-2023 | 279 | 9.0 | 1161 | 37.5 | 912 | 29.4 | 31 | 1.0 | 11% |
| Apr-2023 | 439 | 14.6 | 819 | 27.3 | 417 | 13.9 | 36 | 1.2 | 8% |
| May-2023 | 602 | 19.4 | 733 | 23.6 | 189 | 6.1 | 58 | 1.9 | 10% |
| Jun-2023 | 620 | 20.7 | 621 | 20.7 | 77 | 2.6 | 75 | 2.5 | 12% |
| Jul-2023 | 485 | 15.6 | 557 | 18.0 | 97 | 3.1 | 26 | 0.8 | 5% |
| Aug-2023 | 498 | 16.1 | 606 | 19.5 | 134 | 4.3 | 26 | 0.8 | 5% |
| Sep-2023 | 377 | 12.6 | 574 | 19.1 | 216 | 7.2 | 19 | 0.6 | 5% |
| Oct-2023 | 224 | 7.2 | 738 | 23.8 | 523 | 16.9 | 10 | 0.3 | 4% |
| Nov-2023 | 140 | 4.7 | 1005 | 33.5 | 871 | 29.0 | 6 | 0.2 | 4% |
| Dec-2023 | 68 | 2.2 | 1077 | 34.7 | 1013 | 32.7 | 3 | 0.1 | 4% |
| Total | 4065 | 11.1 | 10297 | 28.2 | 6541 | 17.9 | 310 | 0.8 | 8% |
Worst year to date, but not by much. I still generated over 4000 kWh.
Second full year with the heat pump. Be good to have year on year comparisons
Note: Noticed from historical system stats than I lost output from a single panel in January. The SolarEdge optimiser failed, so I have been a panel down from January until it was fixed in September. Which goes some way to excuse why my overall output has been a little lower compared to recent years.
Also, I have decided to move my exports from FIT to actual exports. With a few to seeing if getting paid for everything I send back on 15p Octopus Fixed is more lucrative than old 50% deemed FIT.
| Month & Year | Gen | Avg Gen | Cons | Avg Cons | Import | Avg Import | Export | Avg Export | Export % of Gen |
| Jan-2024 | 115 | 3.7 | 1205 | 38.9 | 1095 | 35.3 | 5 | 0.2 | 4% |
| Feb-2024 | 145 | 5.0 | 1009 | 34.8 | 873 | 30.1 | 10 | 0.3 | 7% |
| Mar-2024 | 263 | 8.5 | 1080 | 34.8 | 850 | 27.4 | 34 | 1.1 | 13% |
| Apr-2024 | 388 | 12.9 | 858 | 28.6 | 564 | 18.8 | 93 | 3.1 | 24% |
| May-2024 | 449 | 14.5 | 592 | 19.1 | 323 | 10.4 | 180 | 5.8 | 40% |
| Jun-2024 | 531 | 17.7 | 573 | 19.1 | 293 | 9.8 | 249 | 8.3 | 47% |
| Jul-2024 | 509 | 16.4 | 665 | 21.5 | 387 | 12.5 | 232 | 7.5 | 46% |
| Aug-2024 | 457 | 14.7 | 633 | 20.4 | 365 | 11.8 | 189 | 6.1 | 41% |
| Sep-2024 | 257 | 8.6 | 727 | 24.2 | 541 | 18.0 | 70 | 2.3 | 27% |
| Oct-2024 | 243 | 7.8 | 706 | 22.8 | 509 | 16.4 | 47 | 1.5 | 19% |
| Nov-2024 | 121 | 4.0 | 921 | 30.7 | 810 | 27.0 | 10 | 0.3 | 8% |
| Dec-2024 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |||||
| Total | 3478 | 9.5 | 8969 | 24.6 | 6610 | 18.1 | 1119 | 3.1 | 32% |
| Month & Year | Gen | Avg Gen | Cons | Avg Cons | Import | Avg Import | Export | Avg Export | Export % of Gen |
| Jan-2019 | 119 | 3.8 | 314 | 10.1 | 255 | 8.2 | 60 | 1.9 | 50% |
| Jan-2020 | 114 | 3.7 | 312 | 10.1 | 254 | 8.2 | 56 | 1.8 | 49% |
| Jan-2021 | 95 | 3.1 | 597 | 19.3 | 504 | 16.3 | 2 | 0.1 | 2% |
| Jan-2022 | 151 | 4.9 | 647 | 20.9 | 511 | 16.5 | 14 | 0.5 | 9% |
| Jan-2023 | 144 | 4.6 | 1397 | 45.1 | 1262 | 40.7 | 9 | 0.3 | 6% |
| Jan-2024 | 115 | 3.7 | 1205 | 38.9 | 1095 | 35.3 | 5 | 0.2 | 4% |
| Month & Year | Gen | Avg Gen | Cons | Avg Cons | Import | Avg Import | Export | Avg Export | Export % of Gen |
| Feb-2019 | 254 | 9.1 | 292 | 10.4 | 190 | 6.8 | 152 | 5.4 | 60% |
| Feb-2020 | 205 | 7.1 | 326 | 11.2 | 218 | 7.5 | 96 | 3.3 | 47% |
| Feb-2021 | 190 | 6.8 | 476 | 17.0 | 294 | 10.5 | 8 | 0.3 | 4% |
| Feb-2022 | 203 | 7.3 | 912 | 32.6 | 715 | 25.5 | 6 | 0.2 | 3% |
| Feb-2023 | 189 | 6.8 | 1009 | 36.0 | 830 | 29.6 | 11 | 0.4 | 6% |
| Feb-2024 | 145 | 5.0 | 1009 | 34.8 | 873 | 30.1 | 10 | 0.3 | 7% |
| Month & Year | Gen | Avg Gen | Cons | Avg Cons | Import | Avg Import | Export | Avg Export | Export % of Gen |
| Mar-2019 | 398 | 12.8 | 331 | 10.7 | 187 | 6.0 | 253 | 8.2 | 64% |
| Mar-2020 | 411 | 13.3 | 385 | 12.4 | 111 | 3.6 | 136 | 4.4 | 33% |
| Mar-2021 | 349 | 11.3 | 566 | 18.3 | 270 | 8.7 | 53 | 1.7 | 15% |
| Mar-2022 | 400 | 12.9 | 928 | 29.9 | 553 | 17.8 | 25 | 0.8 | 6% |
| Mar-2023 | 279 | 9.0 | 1161 | 37.5 | 912 | 29.4 | 31 | 1.0 | 11% |
| Mar-2024 | 263 | 8.5 | 1080 | 34.8 | 850 | 27.4 | 34 | 1.1 | 13% |
| Month & Year | Gen | Avg Gen | Cons | Avg Cons | Import | Avg Import | Export | Avg Export | Export % of Gen |
| Apr-2019 | 494 | 16.5 | 287 | 9.6 | 126 | 4.2 | 332 | 11.1 | 67% |
| Apr-2020 | 586 | 19.5 | 388 | 12.9 | 78 | 2.6 | 276 | 9.2 | 47% |
| Apr-2021 | 571 | 19.0 | 499 | 16.6 | 41 | 1.4 | 114 | 3.8 | 20% |
| Apr-2022 | 516 | 17.2 | 849 | 28.3 | 374 | 12.5 | 41 | 1.4 | 8% |
| Apr-2023 | 439 | 14.6 | 819 | 27.3 | 417 | 13.9 | 36 | 1.2 | 8% |
| Apr-2024 | 388 | 12.9 | 858 | 28.6 | 564 | 18.8 | 93 | 3.1 | 24% |
| Month & Year | Gen | Avg Gen | Cons | Avg Cons | Import | Avg Import | Export | Avg Export | Export % of Gen |
| May-2019 | 545 | 17.6 | 268 | 8.6 | 112 | 3.6 | 390 | 12.6 | 72% |
| May-2020 | 694 | 22.4 | 402 | 13.0 | 37 | 1.2 | 329 | 10.6 | 47% |
| May-2021 | 500 | 16.1 | 596 | 19.2 | 170 | 5.5 | 73 | 2.4 | 15% |
| May-2022 | 553 | 17.8 | 832 | 26.8 | 324 | 10.5 | 45 | 1.5 | 8% |
| May-2023 | 602 | 19.4 | 733 | 23.6 | 189 | 6.1 | 58 | 1.9 | 10% |
| May-2024 | 449 | 14.5 | 592 | 19.1 | 323 | 10.4 | 180 | 5.8 | 40% |
| Month & Year | Gen | Avg Gen | Cons | Avg Cons | Import | Avg Import | Export | Avg Export | Export % of Gen |
| Jun-2019 | 476 | 15.9 | 255 | 8.5 | 108 | 3.6 | 330 | 11.0 | 69% |
| Jun-2020 | 514 | 17.1 | 405 | 13.5 | 136 | 4.5 | 245 | 8.2 | 48% |
| Jun-2021 | 585 | 19.5 | 550 | 18.3 | 100 | 3.3 | 135 | 4.5 | 23% |
| Jun-2022 | 566 | 18.9 | 741 | 24.7 | 217 | 7.2 | 42 | 1.4 | 7% |
| Jun-2023 | 620 | 20.7 | 621 | 20.7 | 77 | 2.6 | 75 | 2.5 | 12% |
| Jun-2024 | 531 | 17.7 | 573 | 19.1 | 293 | 9.8 | 249 | 8.3 | 47% |
| Month & Year | Gen | Avg Gen | Cons | Avg Cons | Import | Avg Import | Export | Avg Export | Export % of Gen |
| Jul-2019 | 560 | 18.1 | 253 | 8.2 | 110 | 3.5 | 417 | 13.5 | 74% |
| Jul-2020 | 515 | 16.6 | 418 | 13.5 | 67 | 2.2 | 164 | 5.3 | 32% |
| Jul-2021 | 568 | 18.3 | 610 | 19.7 | 114 | 3.7 | 72 | 2.3 | 13% |
| Jul-2022 | 565 | 18.2 | 666 | 21.5 | 215 | 6.9 | 113 | 3.6 | 20% |
| Jul-2023 | 485 | 15.6 | 557 | 18.0 | 97 | 3.1 | 26 | 0.8 | 5% |
| Jul-2024 | 509 | 16.4 | 665 | 21.5 | 387 | 12.5 | 232 | 7.5 | 46% |
| Month & Year | Gen | Avg Gen | Cons | Avg Cons | Import | Avg Import | Export | Avg Export | Export % of Gen |
| Aug-2019 | 562 | 18.1 | 254 | 8.2 | 107 | 3.5 | 415 | 13.4 | 74% |
| Aug-2020 | 468 | 15.1 | 459 | 14.8 | 113 | 3.6 | 121 | 3.9 | 26% |
| Aug-2021 | 432 | 13.9 | 500 | 16.1 | 106 | 3.4 | 37 | 1.2 | 9% |
| Aug-2022 | 601 | 19.4 | 725 | 23.4 | 271 | 8.7 | 146 | 4.7 | 24% |
| Aug-2023 | 498 | 16.1 | 606 | 19.5 | 134 | 4.3 | 26 | 0.8 | 5% |
| Aug-2024 | 457 | 14.7 | 633 | 20.4 | 365 | 11.8 | 189 | 6.1 | 41% |
| Month & Year | Gen | Avg Gen | Cons | Avg Cons | Import | Avg Import | Export | Avg Export | Export % of Gen |
| Sep-2019 | 411 | 13.7 | 259 | 8.6 | 139 | 4.6 | 290 | 9.7 | 71% |
| Sep-2020 | 432 | 14.4 | 480 | 16.0 | 126 | 4.2 | 78 | 2.6 | 18% |
| Sep-2021 | 387 | 12.9 | 482 | 16.1 | 107 | 3.6 | 12 | 0.4 | 3% |
| Sep-2022 | 379 | 12.6 | 751 | 25.0 | 387 | 12.9 | 15 | 0.5 | 4% |
| Sep-2023 | 377 | 12.6 | 574 | 19.1 | 216 | 7.2 | 19 | 0.6 | 5% |
| Sep-2024 | 257 | 8.6 | 727 | 24.2 | 541 | 18.0 | 70 | 2.3 | 27% |
| Month & Year | Gen | Avg Gen | Cons | Avg Cons | Import | Avg Import | Export | Avg Export | Export % of Gen |
| Oct-2019 | 246 | 7.9 | 237 | 7.6 | 159 | 5.1 | 168 | 5.4 | 68% |
| Oct-2020 | 186 | 6.0 | 596 | 19.2 | 419 | 13.5 | 9 | 0.3 | 5% |
| Oct-2021 | 269 | 8.7 | 602 | 19.4 | 341 | 11.0 | 8 | 0.3 | 3% |
| Oct-2022 | 291 | 9.4 | 807 | 26.0 | 546 | 17.6 | 29 | 0.9 | 10% |
| Oct-2023 | 224 | 7.2 | 738 | 23.8 | 523 | 16.9 | 10 | 0.3 | 4% |
| Oct-2024 | 243 | 7.8 | 706 | 22.8 | 509 | 16.4 | 47 | 1.5 | 19% |
| Month & Year | Gen | Avg Gen | Cons | Avg Cons | Import | Avg Import | Export | Avg Export | Export % of Gen |
| Nov-2018 | 110 | 3.7 | 293 | 9.8 | 242 | 8.1 | 59 | 2.0 | 54% |
| Nov-2019 | 83 | 2.8 | 315 | 10.5 | 266 | 8.9 | 34 | 1.1 | 41% |
| Nov-2020 | 120 | 4.0 | 507 | 16.9 | 389 | 13.0 | 2 | 0.1 | 2% |
| Nov-2021 | 137 | 4.6 | 613 | 20.4 | 479 | 16.0 | 2 | 0.1 | 1% |
| Nov-2022 | 101 | 3.4 | 983 | 32.8 | 884 | 29.5 | 2 | 0.1 | 2% |
| Nov-2023 | 140 | 4.7 | 1005 | 33.5 | 871 | 29.0 | 6 | 0.2 | 4% |
| Nov-2024 | 121 | 4.0 | 921 | 30.7 | 810 | 27.0 | 10 | 0.3 | 8% |
| Month & Year | Gen | Avg Gen | Cons | Avg Cons | Import | Avg Import | Export | Avg Export | Export % of Gen |
| Dec-2018 | 89 | 2.9 | 331 | 10.7 | 280 | 9.0 | 38 | 1.2 | 43% |
| Dec-2019 | 96 | 3.1 | 341 | 11.0 | 285 | 9.2 | 40 | 1.3 | 42% |
| Dec-2020 | 79 | 2.5 | 620 | 20.0 | 546 | 17.6 | 5 | 0.2 | 6% |
| Dec-2021 | 68 | 2.2 | 628 | 20.3 | 562 | 18.1 | 2 | 0.1 | 3% |
| Dec-2022 | 93 | 3.0 | 1452 | 46.8 | 1364 | 44.0 | 5 | 0.2 | 5% |
| Dec-2023 | 68 | 2.2 | 1077 | 34.7 | 1013 | 32.7 | 3 | 0.1 | 4% |
My Solar PV system is brilliant, I absolutely love it. I’m actively investigating if I can extend the system too.
But it was very tough through that first full year seeing oodles of generation go back to the grid.
Adding the batteries and then getting the EV has totally changed the way I view my solar now. In fact, I love it even more now.
For most of the summer I barely import more than a few kWh per day.
Each kWh generated in 2021 is saving me much more money than it did in 2020 because of the recent increases in import costs.
During the winter the batteries come into their own when we can load then up with off peak energy.
There are still times through the summer when I can have filled the batteries by lunchtime and if the EV is away from the house being driven we can be exporting back to the grid like billy oh all afternoon!
The water cylnder and the Eddi diverter should now make use of this spare generation.
Now that we removed the gas combi boiler and moved to electric for both heat and hot water, there’s only the cooker left on gas. This is the last piece of the ‘ditch gas’ puzzle.
If you’re thinking about owning solar then I’d suggest that you also have to consider where you are going to dump the excess.
No matter how hard you try to do the washing and cooking when the sun is shining you will not be able to use all electricity you generate, especially from March to October.
Yes, you could try and make some money by exporting via Octopus Energy Outgoing, especially the Agile version when energy prices are high.
UPDATE: Read my 5 years of solar article for more information about exporting back to the grid.
But for an easy life and use the energy within your house (and not pay import costs) you’d need somewhere to divert your spare generation.
The more of your generation you can use in the house the better your return in investment (ROI) will be.
So where could you dump that excess?
Water Cylinder
Probably the best bang for your buck. At less than £400 a Myenergi Eddi PV diverter will dump any excess generation to the immersion in your hot water cylinder. This will likely pay for itself pretty quickly.
As well as a conventional water cylinder you could divert to a smart cylinder (like a Mixergy) or a Sunamp heat battery.
EV Charger
Very similar to the Eddi, the Myenergi Zappi EV charger will divert excess generation to your car.
The beauty of the Eddi is that it can put very small amounts of excess generation into the water cylinder, just a few 100W.
Whereas your EV needs 1.4kWh available to fire up the charging mechanism of the EV. This probably won’t be an issue on sunny days.
But don’t let that put you off as you can also part top up the Zappi with Grid (or battery) to get to the 1.4kWh minimum that your EV needs to fire up the charging mechanism (ie a mix of 900W Solar and 600W from grid or batteries for example).
Home Batteries
As detailed in my home battery blog post, batteries can be used two ways. Both for dumping excess PV into and also charging at off peak times for use later.
As you can see from the figures and stats above, the batteries have been a game changer for us.
Other options?
Bottom line is that any electrical device in your house could be used for dumping spare generation. But the ones listed above are the easiest and are sort of ‘fire and forget’ options that don’t need a great deal of user interaction.
If you find this information useful and are thinking of joining Octopus Energy, please consider using my referral code or ‘buy me a coffee’ to help support running costs of the website.
Using this referral code will gift you £50 of free credit after signup: https://share.octopus.energy/linen-pearl-869
If you’re considering owning part of a wind farm through Ripple Energy, get £25 of free credit (if investing more than £1000) using my Ripple referral link.
We can also be found on Twitter, please follow us @energystatsuk for daily Agile tariff pricing graphs and summaries.
Also, be sure to check out our Dashboard, Download Historical Data and OctoChargeCalc features to help you decide whether these tariffs are the right fit for you.
Note: The past performance of energy pricing is not necessarily a guide to the future.
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