The new tariff, Empower Exclusive, is designed to spur yet more uptake of Britain’s estimated 1.2 million homes fitted with solar PV arrays.

Exclusively available to new customers who install a panels-plus battery bundle through EDF’s in-house installer, Contact Solar, the Empower Exclusive tariff is promoted as saving a standard home more than £800 per year against EdF’s standard variable tariff.

EdF is also offering £500 off a new panels-plus-battery installation to the promotion’s first 500 customers, and without any deposit before installation.

EdF bought Chorley-based Contact Solar earlier this year and has integrated it into its operations.  The supplier says more price & package deals related to home solar are in the offing.

This first deal helps customers charge their batteries overnight, providing three hours of discounted, zero carbon electricity for three hours starting at 1:00am.  By charging the battery more cheaply overnight, the discount helps householders reduce their reliance on external supply during peak hours.

With systems available for on average £8,500 for a typical 3-bedroom house, Contact Solar’s package offer includes 10 panels, a 5kW hybrid inverter and 5.32kWh battery, all installation and scaffolding costs, a 10-year battery and inverter warranty, a 25-year panel warranty, virtual and technical survey costs, and access to a system monitoring and performance app.

All combinations of solar and battery installs will also benefit from 0% VAT.

Tom Taylor, director at Contact Solar, said: “We’re delighted to now be a fully integrated part of EdF, bringing exceptional new benefits to customers such as this new exclusive energy bundle.

Philippe Commaret, EdF’s managing director of customers, added: “We know more and more people are looking for ways to save cash and carbon, which is why we’re pleased to bring this unique solar product bundle to the market.

To check eligibility for the tariff, click here: Tariff Eligibility Criteria | EDF (EdFenergy.com)

For more information or to sign up to the Empower Exclusive tariff, click here: https://www.EdFenergy.com/solar#empower

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On average around 69% of billpayers say they are happy with their provider. Significantly higher than that average is Octopus, scoring 84%.  Suppliers with lower satisfaction results were EDF Energy, on 61%, OVO Energy on 61%. and Scottish Power on 62%.

A pool of more than 3,700 home energy users were asked last September to rate their supplier first for overall satisfaction, and then for its customer service delivered.   The regulator commissioned the research in collaboration with Citizens Advice.

For customer service, suppliers scored on average 62%.  Octopus again beat that industry benchmark, achieving 76% for its service.

Again EDF, on 54%, Scottish Power on 55%, and OVO on 57%, all came up short, serving their customers worse than rivals.

Top reasons given by customers unhappy with levels of service they received were

• not being able to contact their supplier at the time they needed (37%),
• not feeling they were being listened to (34%) and
• length of time it took to resolve their query (34%)

Overall satisfaction with customer service as reported by real users fell, the regulator notes, from 66% at the end of 2022 to 62% in the latest research.

Ofgem says it will continue to publish its supplier-specific data as part of its commitment to improve transparency in helping customers make more informed decisions on supplier choice.

In December the regulator announced new rules designed to improve customer service standards, including requirements for suppliers to be easier to contact and provide proactive support for vulnerable customers, and people struggling to pay their bills.

Under these rules, energy companies are already required to prominently display their Citizens Advice Star Rating for customer service satisfaction.

Tim Jarvis, Ofgem’s director general of retail, commented:   “Transparency is crucial to allow energy users to make informed choices, and we are determined to give customers the information they need so they can choose a supplier that works for them.

“We have already seen improvement to fix issues we identified in our deep-dive review of customer service in 2022.

“This latest data is a reminder that there is still work to be done, and publishing company-specific data adds another incentive for suppliers to keep pace with their rivals – or risk losing customers.”

Early last year the regulator’s Market Compliance Review into customer service raised severe or moderate weaknesses at twelve energy retailers.   It says suppliers have listened, with all making noticeable improvements.

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Its alliance announced today with financiers InfraRed Capital Partners opens the way, the six-year old technology provider believes, to supercharge its growth within the new build housing market.

Volume homebuilders including Redrow, Taylor Wimpey and CALA are trialling Wonderwall’s home energy system (HEMS).  It is designed to identify the optimum time to buy energy from, and sell energy back, to the grid for an overall net-zero energy home aim and the potential to deliver negative energy bills.

Use of its AI-enhanced energy technology has seen negative bills delivered already over summer months.   Given the non-technical addition of altered occupant behaviour, the technologists believe the package’s carbon saving potential towards Net Zero goes much further.

The provider claims that, if a home was built to current Future Homes Standard (FHS) requirements, and equipped with home-scale renewables, Wondrwall’s technology automatically pushes it beyond FHS requirements.  Wondrwall allows lower carbon emissions, lower energy bills and lower energy consumption with no incremental operational cost.

Today’s partnership supports the provider’s ambition to unlock an initial investment programme of over £100m.  Also on Wonderwall’s destination board is a goal of expanding growth of its footprint to over 100,000 net-zero energy homes in the UK and overseas.

Forty new jobs and the appointment of a new commercial director have been enabled by the deal.

Daniel Burton, Wondrwall’s CEO and founder said: “This is a landmark moment. It will help us accelerate towards our ambition of making intelligent net zero living accessible to all.  InfraRed is an exceptional partner for Wondrwall and the investment underlines the importance of our technology in helping to reduce energy consumption of homes and help the UK in transition to net-zero.

“Put simply, Wondrwall creates the most intelligent homes in Britain“.

Energy infrastructure and consumption specialists InfraRed Capital Partners manage an international portfolio of around $14bn equity assets.

Stephane Kofman, its partner in charge of capital gain funds, added : “Wondrwall is a company that stands at the forefront of the energy transition. This partnership demonstrates our ongoing commitment to invest in infrastructure solutions that both support sustainable futures and address the current cost of living crisis.”

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Last winter the NG-ESO ran its first two batches of national trials for its DFS, designed to gauge how responsive home power users are – or could made to be – to messages that time-shifting will save them money.

As part of the experiment, the NG-ESO and participating suppliers advertised the cash advantages to homes who switched heavy usage devices such as washing machines to run overnight or outside times of peak power demand.

Results of the trials, as analysed on behalf of one battery vendor, were released this morning.  Kit retailer SolarEdge is heralding their insights as a ‘game changer’ in the promotion of home storage of electricity.

Unlike ‘manual turn-down’ participants, owners of SolarEdge’s Home Battery earned financial rewards for their stored battery power during peak hours, without having to reduce their electricity usage.

Consumption monitoring company Smart Metering Systems (SMS) used SolarEdge’s smart control technology to charge participants’ batteries remotely ahead of each DFS event and then maximize power export to the grid over the hours of the DFS event’s duration.

Autonomous control removed the need for homeowners possessing Solar Edge batteries to tweak the times when they ran high-consuming household devices.

The company’s analysis finds that participating battery owners earned up to ten times more financial rewards than participants paid by the DFS for manually tweaking – “time-shifting” – usage by big household appliances.

The highest financial reward received by a battery owner during a single DFS event was £25.60, against an average reward received of £6.52. In comparison, UK manual turn-down participants in the DFS trails received only £0.90 or so per DFS event on average.

In the six DFS events which SolarEdge batter owners participated in, the highest total reward achieved by a battery participant was £100.61. Projections by Smart Metering Systems suggest that if the DFS service becomes an enduring year-round service, domestic battery owners could earn over £300 per year.

The National Grid benefitted too from the DFS’ cuts in demand, through power flows re-scheduled to times when the grid could accommodate them.

Analysts found that participating battery-equipped homes were up to six times more effective in trimming back grid demand than UK homeowners manually twiddling appliances’ knobs. On average, battery-enabled participants exported 2.7 kWh to the grid per DFS event, compared to a reduction of 0.5 kWh or less posted by the average manual turn-down participant.

Mark Hamilton, managing director for FlexiGrid at analysts SMS, concluded: “Introducing automation into the DFS has game-changing potential to amplify significantly the volume of homeowner participation next winter and in future DFS events, and subsequently boost the impact of grid stabilization using home batteries.

“The ability to remotely schedule participants’ batteries to autonomously charge ahead of each DFS event and maximize power export to the grid”, said Hamilton, “means homeowners can earn passive income while consuming electricity as normal.

“This is in contrast to the DFS participants required to actively change their behaviour to earn energy bill savings. This was a key factor in the drop-off of participation we saw as the national DFS scheme went on.”

From home storage vendor SolarEdge, its Western Europe regional manager Amit Larom oberved: “We’ve seen first-hand the significant value battery-enabled flexibility response delivers to homeowners and grid operators alike.

“Home batteries enable homeowners to lower their energy bills and increase their savings by leveraging excess solar during evenings when electricity tariffs are at their highest.

“Participating in demand response programmes can further help improve the economics of purchasing a home battery”, said the SolarEdge salesperson.

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Home rooftop systems beneath 10kWp in capacity are being installed at their fastest rate since 2016, energy consultants NTT Data calculate, using government statistics.

Domestic solar accounts for an estimated 27% of Britain’s 15.6GWp of PV systems now generating.

Homes adding solar panels made up 73% of Britain’s new PV capacity last year. Domestic additions for the half decade since 2016 had averaged only 43%.

But without speeded up connections delayed by thermal and voltage constraints everywhere on Britain’s creaking grid,  NTT say 2050 may yet become an impossible deadline for the UK to attain Net Zero.

Run-rate installations of home PV lagged the 25% mark for five years between March 2016 and last June, the consultants note.

Capex write-offs favour oil and gas

Planning rejections for solar fields also ran in 2022 at their highest rate for five years, NTT notes further drive expansion on homes’ roofs.

Initiated by Theresa May’s government to help home generators sell unwanted power, Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) tariffs offered by retailers now reward homeowners only with a meagre of 13% of current wholesale prices.  These stand at around 37.2p per kWh.

That economic logic prompts PV owners to direct excess energy towards home batteries or home-charged family EVs, rather than selling and it back to the grid. Soaring retail tariffs increase the incentive to store excess power, not sell it.

Eduardo Fernandez, NTT Data’s head of gas, power & water observed: “Energy microgeneration has graduated from theory to practice: due, in part, to rapidly increasing energy prices.

“Renewed investment in solar installations by homeowners is driving the decentralisation of the energy grid, ramping up the pressure for local network transformation.

“Small installations now make up a quarter of the UK’s national solar capacity. That puts pressure on DNOs to make drastic changes to their technology stack.

“Homeowners are now paid an average of around 4.9p/kWh to deliver excess electricity back to the grid. Wholesale prices paid by electricity companies are almost 10 times this, and the current energy cap is 9 times the price paid”.

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Just over 130,000 home solar installations were registered with the MCS in 2022, up 114% on 2021, the MCS reports.

The MCS is the quality assurance body originally set up as guarantor of components & quality of installation in the bygone era when public money such as the Feed-in Tariff subsidised technologies such as home solar.  Clean power making on a home scale closed for subsidy in March 2019, for new applicants at least.

Green jobs in installation grew last year too.   780 new contractors became MCS certified, two-thirds of them certifying in clean electricity generation, again more than double the net increase on 2021. Last year thus witnessed the highest yearly leap of certified technicians in over a decade. Overwhelmingly, MCS contractors are micro- or small businesses, led by entrepreneurs practising a trade.

Whitehall’s imposition of subsidy cuts throughout the 20-teens at almost no notice resulted in the home installation industry’s notorious “solar coaster”, which dramatically grew, then culled, small firms.

Activity as reported for 2022 by the authoritative MCS indicates that rollercoaster is back at a peak, and arguably plateauing.    More than 3,000 certified businesses now make up the MCS contractor base.

Other home-sized low carbon energy techs are also enjoying their place in the sun, the MCS’s 2022 summaries reveal.

Heat pumps in both their air-source and ground-source variants, saw more than 30,000 installations, equivalent to 19% of all home-scale energy systems logged in the year.

March 2022 saw the largest spike in heat pump installations of any month in MCS history, as homeowners and installers rushed to beat the closure of the domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).

Heat pump uptake remained high following the launch of the government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), launched in May 2022.  It offers households in England and Wales up to £6,000 to replace home boilers.

During 2022, almost 9,000 BUS vouchers were issued with a value of nearly £45 million. The government intends the BUS to fund 90,000 heat pumps by 2025.

Battery storage makes its first appearance for accreditation in 2022’s records. The MCS gave 50 certified contractors their competence award, up from only two contractors registered in 2021. A total of 269 battery systems were installed last year.

Ian Rippin, CEO of MCS, was happy but said more contractors are needed.

“We’re pleased to report our second strongest year since 2015, illustrating the sector’s upward trajectory”, said Rippin.

“We had an incredibly busy 2022.  The future of small-scale renewable installations is becoming increasingly important, and we continue to play a crucial role in the decarbonisation of the UK’s homes.

“Looking ahead, we need to drive this momentum and upward mobility at pace and continue to ensure consumer confidence across all technology types. To support this and ensure government targets are met, more skilled contractors are needed.

“As such, we will launch the Low Carbon Heating Technician Apprenticeship later this year. We are confident this will attract young people and career-changers to the industry, creating a more diverse workforce that meets the demands of the industry while providing future-proof careers in the green sector.”

Since MCS began recording installations, the scheme has seen more than 1.5 million certified power generation systems go into UK homes.

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Since the start of winter, the default tariff cap, or price cap, and the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) have left the government-supported Standard Variable Tariff (SVT) lower than almost all energy tariffs.

That circumstance imposes a chokehold on the savings which households can make by switching, Cornwall Insight’s Kate Mulvany observes in a research note.

Monthly account moves between suppliers have collapsed as a result, from just under half a million every month in 2019, to only 85,000 last year.

In April, government support for domestic through the EPG bills rises to £3,000.

With wholesale fossil feedstock prices paid by generators now shrunk to or below levels seen before Putin’s invasion of Ukraine twelve months ago, it’s on the cards, says Cornwall, that suppliers will soon offer fixed tariffs attractively competitive against the government-capped price scales.

Although increased market competition naturally depends on stable wholesale markets, Cornwall sees early indications that suppliers could launch more competitively priced tariffs within weeks.

“Current market conditions suggest there may be room for households to have a wider engagement in the energy market than they have in recent times”, says the note.

“There are many variables still in play, and it is difficult to know how fast and how far energy bills will fall”, Mulvany cautions.

“The Market Stabilisation charge adds another level of complexity, as while it may safeguard against supplier collapse it is likely to drive up the cost of energy deals offered by suppliers”, she perceives.

“If suppliers’ costs decrease and government-supported rates remain relatively high, it is likely we will see a significant revival in reasonably priced energy plans, with millions of households finally able to take advantage of the savings they have been missing out on for years.

Bill-payers scared or intimidated into inertia by recent tariff turmoil will also influence market outcomes, Cornwall believes.

“To see rising switching we are also relying on consumers engaging with an energy market which many are understandably wary of. It is possible some households may choose to stick with what they know instead of choosing cheaper options.”

More on Cornwall’s Insight here.

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Now in its eighth year, Greg Jackson’s privately held international mega-investor says solar installation helps it create nearly 200 UK jobs, as it targets 3,000 roofs this year, starting in southern England and the Midlands. A fast ramp-up is promised.

A nationwide brand recognised from repeated TV advertising,  and with 4.9 million retail accounts following its absorption last month of failed supplier Bulb, Octopus ranks third among UK energy retailers, behind British Gas and E-on.

Octopus is backing its battery and on-roof instals with what it claims are Briain’s best rates for buying homeowners’ unstored electricity, made from light.  Its standard tariff of 15 pence per kWh to buy householders’ exported power is three times higher than rivals’ offerings, the firm says.

More rewarding still is a variable alternative, a floating export tariff linked to market prices for wholesale electricity.

Agile Outgoing links a customer’s “spilled” generation via Kraken, the firm’s fulfilment platform, into realtime prices seen on trading markets. Over the twelve months to last September, customers on this tariff were paid 34p per kWh on average, the firm claims.  Some payments peaked at £1.29 per kWh.

Plenty of beak, but Zero bills

Octopus says its stable of installation technology and proprietary know-how now allows some homes to exist free of any energy cost. By installing the technology trio of on-roof panels, a suitcase-sized in-house battery and a heat pump, the firm says houses can become ‘Zero Bills’ properties.

‘Zero Bills’ is Octopus’ own certification. It means homeowners pay nothing for their own consumption. A pilot in Essex saw 22 eligible dwellings made by Ilke Homes sold with the option of incurring ‘Zero Bills’.  The partners aim to swell that total to 10,000 homes by 2030.

Octopus views venturing into Britain’s now booming on-roof PV installation scene as filling in a gap. Its Energy Services division already connects up home EV chargers, air-source heat pumps and smart meters.

Octopus Energy Services CEO John Szymik commented: “Given the success we have had in scaling and installing huge swathes of smart, green home energy tech, we are champing at the bit to begin installing the last piece of the puzzle, solar photovoltaic.

There’s a clever cephalopod on my roof

“If more homes in the UK produce clean, green solar energy, we will be able to accelerate the energy transition and bring down system prices for everybody by lowering system costs”, Szymik went on.

“In true Octopus style, we’ll focus on reducing solar installation times down to record levels, hoping to soon make solar panels affordable for everyone.”

Interested customers should register an interest here octopus.energy/homesolar.

Observers see Octopus’ ambitions today for southern homes as another upward surge in the PV installation business’ notorious ‘solar-coaster’.

Over a decade ago, British Gas was the first big generator to venture into direct solar installation on domestic roofs.

Its Hampshire-based PV division rode the short-lived installation boom in 2010, buoyed up by Feed-in-Tariffs then paying 40 pence and more to homeowners for every kWh they generated, plus more for any unwanted power released to the grid.

After alarmed Whitehall officials used England’s courts to sabotage the runway demand they had themselves created, the Centrica offshoot turned away from depressed homes instals, concentrating instead on PV systems for commercial clients.

A publicly funded subsidy supporting home-scale beneficiaries for at least twenty years, the Feed-in Tariff closed for new registrations in March 2019.

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