Here is my monthly report on how our solar panel system did in March 2026. We have:
- 20x400W panels = 8kW, facing west
- 5kW GivEnergy inverter
- 9.5kWh GivEnergy battery
The house is in the UK at about 52° north. The system was installed in February 2024. The system was installed by Octopus who also supply our power and gas.
This is the year so far, all in kWh:
| Month | Generated | Used | Exported | Imported | Cost import | Paid export |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 110 | 518 | 106 | 522 | £88.53 | £14.91 |
| February | 237 | 592 | 226 | 580 | £79.08 | £33.97 |
| March | 590 | 484 | 599 | 507 | £74.47 | £68.30 |
| April | 937 | 283 | 927 | 326 | £37.71 | £112.71 |
April has been pretty sunny so we have been able to generate and export a lot of power. In March the peak for a day was 35kWh and last month it was almost 45kWh so we were earning something almost every day that was generally enough to cover the gas cost too, so our debt to Octopus (referral link) will decrease as I expected. I had an email recently to say they will increase our monthly payments a little as they want me to be in credit again. I will let that happen and see where we are in a year. I just have to get it right so that we cover the winter costs with what we make in the sunnier months.
We imported a lot less as the leased EV has been in for repairs for a while. They seem to have issues getting the parts. The issue is with the key. A lot of cars just require the key to be near the car, but I really have no issue with having to insert it to start the car. I think cars are getting too complicated and that means more to go wrong.
Our consumption from the grid has been pretty constant as we just charge the battery up each morning after discharging what we have the previous evening. The import rate went up a little, but for those few early hours it costs less than a pound to charge the battery and we make back more whilst the sun shines. They dropped the cheap rate in April, but had to put it back up this month due to the current issues that affect fuel prices. Having solar is cushioning us from the impact. I think a lot of people and countries are looking to get more into renewables to break away from fossil fuel dependency.
Another issue that will affect us is that GivEnergy who made our battery and inverter are in financial difficulties. I think we will still have a warranty from Octopus who installed the system, but we may need to pay to get the same access and control of the system. There may be workarounds for this that I will look into, but having to pay a few pounds per month for that access is not a huge deal. I do not anticipate that my system will stop working.
Shine on!
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The man behind: | @tenkminnows: Helping good Hivers level up @proofofbrian: A bot that checks for tag typos #BritList: A monthly list of Hivers in the UK |
Have you ever thought about increasing your battery capacity or does what you have pretty much take care of all your needs?
We have enough to run the house all day with some to spare. If there's a power cut then it shuts down for safety reasons, but that is rare anyway. It mainly means we use very little peak time electricity, even in winter.
That is cool!
Do you think there will be any new records in sunnier months, considering the output in April?"
I really don't know as it depends on the weather. Too much sun may be a bad thing if it gets really hot as we don't have a/c. Breaking records is not the point.
that strategy of using summer credit to pay for winter is very smart; it's the best way to make the most of solar energy.
Well I try to make it work out for me :)
👍
that strategy of using summer credit to pay for winter is very smart; it's the best way to make the most of solar energy.
Update: @steevc, I paid out 6.758 HIVE and 0.000 HBD to reward 3 comments in this discussion thread.