bertybuttface

Sounds like you'd be happier if the charges were means tested, I could get behind that if thats what it takes to not put people that just about have enough to put solar in off doing so. £300 is the difference between an extra 500 watts of solar panel or not. That's not insignificant. I'm not arguing noone can afford to pay, clearly some of us can, I'm arguing that it shouldn't be more expensive because as you rightly point out many already do not have the necessary capital to expend. We should be lowering the barrier to entry not raising it.

The link you sent does not say what you think it does, read it again. These charges for G100 are new. I agree we should park it there though. You have your opinion, I have mine, and that is ok. Also sorry for the derail Umer.

I think we will have to agree to disagree, any financial penalty works as a disincentive. It might only put a handful of people off but that is still a handful of people too many.

There is a 3rd option of the cost being met by government from tax revenue. In my opinion the fairest system would involve the government providing interest free loans to anyone that wanted to fit solar but we are getting way off topic. The simple fact remains that some DNOs do not charge so these fees are likely unnecessary.

Regardless of whether someone is rich or poor the charge is unfair. If charges didn't put people off things why do we use them as fines for behaviour society tries to discourage? It is also even more manifestly unfair in that it is a postcode lottery but the same could be said about power costs in general.

Just because I didn't have to pay it doesn't mean I think others should. Ah I see, you had to pay it so others should have to pay it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_mentality

The dialog is somewhat understandable, a nominal fee even, but £300 is coming it a bit don't you think? Don't forget those new to solar have zero government subsidies, a very low export rate, a large upfront cost and now they get hit with this extra fee. We charge overly large extra fees on things we want to discourage (e.g. a speeding fine). Do we really want to be discouraging solar uptake?

Not sure how it works with CT clamps but remember that is only one method. SolarEdge sell an inline meter as well as a CT clamp based one. You can also use any other Growatt compatible meter. If you feel like trying it I'd be interested to know how the inverter responds? My original claim is the power company shouldn't be charging £300 for the privilege of filling out one form. My subsequent claim is that if you are export limited and using kit from a reputable supplier you aren't a threat to the power grid. This charge is unfair and unreasonable IMO. If you check G100 it even allows you to be out of spec for up to 5 seconds so polling time lag clearly does not leave you in a state that they are concerned about.

At what point in time were G100 applications charged for (prior to now)? Yes and no, the inverter is a modbus client and the meter is a modbus server, the inverter polls the meter so would know that it could no longer connect. It would limit export in this instance (this is covered in Solar Edge's online course). As for reaction lag you are correct but this would hardly be considered generation above the levels that would get you fined. It corrects within less than a second. I'll try and get some decent graphs of this to show you. There is no point in me continuing to discuss this with you if you are going to be like that. Feel free to reply but you won't receive any more interaction from me

Not true, the SolarEdge one (which I know you also have) can be set to not export at all. Go have a look in SetApp (or you can even set it via Modbus if you don't have access to SetApp).

I don't need to, I'm grandfathered in under the old system (G97 I think?) but my point is this: If the DNO want the info, don't charge for the privilege of providing it. There is absolutely no reason (or legal requirement) to have to pay their shitty little charge to get their ridiculously shit export rate. You can simply choose not to export. I repeat yet again for those at the back - there does not seem to be any mechanism to fine you for not jumping through their hoops and paying their little protection racket charge.

If you want to lick boots and pay for something that was formally free thats up to you. I'm not saying do whatever you want and stay installing non type approved equipment. I'm saying it is totally unreasonable some are charged £300 and others are not. If that rubs you up the wrong way I'd put it to you that is a you problem not a me problem.

Read your own link, exceeding export limits can result in fines. You seem to have missed where I have written multiple times "if you aren't exporting". Would you please kindly tell me how one could exceed export limits if one was not indeed exporting? Do we not agree that this is impossible? If you don't have batteries then you should look at them. It is likely more cost effective than export. The SolarEdge battery has a 10 year warranty.

If it is such a vital service then charging for it (and ultimately lowering uptake) is an incredibly irresponsible move for them to take. Both of your examples are convoluted to the point of irrelevance. If you are using an inverter from a reputable manufacturer and you aren't exporting there is absolutely zero possibility of either of them occurring.

I've looked (again not a lawyer) and I can't find anything about fines. You are correct that they can threaten to disconnect you if you don't put in a G99/G100 but they can usually be done after installation anyway so just put one in if they give you any crap. If they didn't start charging for a G99/G100 we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. It is an anti-competitive stealth charge on microgeneration and its bullshit. Especially that some have to pay and others don't. In June if your battery is full by 10AM it is very likely that either you have over specced your panels for your needs or you are using gas water heating. It also gives you a budget for air conditioning. Sure everyone is different, that's great, some can pay for the G99/G100, others don't have to. There are plenty of people with solar that don't export anything, why should they be forced to pay for an export license?