The Best Electricity Tariffs for your Renewable Energy Home
There are so many home electricity tariffs on offer nowadays, it’s hard to see the wood for the trees.
If you have solar panels, battery storage, an electric car – maybe even a heat pump – what’s the best electricity tariff to be on that will save you the most money?
Do you have to remain with your current energy supplier, or can you switch? Can you have different tariffs from more than one supplier at the same time?
Read our handy tariff guide to demystify this confusing area.
by David Lewis, Chief Strategy Officer | published 23 February 2024
UNDERSTANDING HOME RENEWABLE ENERGY TARIFFS
Introduction
In this section, we are going to cover the type of electricity tariffs that are relevant for each of the four home energy technologies below. Further down the guide we will compare and contrast the best tariffs currently available in the market.
THE BEST EV TARIFF
OCTOPUS ENERGY
Octopus Energy has been a pioneer in helping EV drivers reduce their charging costs. Here’s a summary of the tariffs they currently have available:
As you can see from the table, Intelligent Octopus Go is a better EV tariff than Octopus Go. You get a cheaper charging rate and more hours to charge.
To be eligible for Intelligent Octopus Go, you either need a compatible car or a compatible home charging point. You also need a smart meter which Octopus can install for you, free of charge.
If you don’t have a compatible car or charger, you can sign up to the standard Octopus Go for 4 hours of charging at 9p per kWh.
If you do switch to Octopus, you can use our official referral code to get £50 off.
OVO ENERGY
OVO Energy has now introduced an EV tariff which finally brings some competition to Octopus who has had it all their own way for years.
If OVO is already your energy supplier – or if you switch to them – you can apply their Charge Anytime add-on and get really cheap electric vehicle charging:
Uniquely among EV tariffs, there is no fixed charging window. You can charge at any time, day or night, and always get the 7p rate, as long as you schedule charging via the app.
WHICH TARIFF IS BETTER: OCTOPUS OR OVO?
At first glance, the OVO Charge Anytime product is clearly better than Intelligent Octopus Go. It’s the cheapest EV tariff:
With OVO, you get 18 more charging hours and a slightly lower rate, saving 0.5p per kWh.
However, the OVO 7p rate only applies when you charge your electric car. The Octopus rate, by contrast, applies to any electricity you use during the 6-hour window from 11:30pm to 5:30am.
Why’s that relevant? Because there may be other electrical devices you can turn on during that cheap charging window to make use of the 7.5p rate. For example, you could set your dishwasher to come on at midnight, and your pots and pans will come out all clean and shiny – for a very low cost.
You could also set your battery storage to charge at 7.5p per kWh during that 6-hour Intelligent Octopus Go window. The battery would then discharge to the house when needed, avoiding peak electricity rates, normally around 29p per kWh.
Further down the page, we will explore more examples of how you can take advantage of those cheap 6 hours with Octopus. It doesn’t mean the OVO Charge Anytime add-on isn’t also a very good solution, but as it only applies to charging your EV, it helps to explore all the options if you plan to upgrade your home in terms of energy.
OTHER ELECTRIC VEHICLE TARIFFS TO CONSIDER
You should also call your existing home energy supplier and ask them if they have a special EV charging tariff you can switch to. Here is a list some suppliers that do have EV tariffs, but generally they are not as aggressively priced as Octopus and OVO:
- Good Energy
- British Gas
- EDF Energy
- E.ON
- Scottish Power
It’s important to look at both the cheap, off-peak rate and the standard peak rate. Some suppliers offer an attractive off-peak rate, but then a very poor standard, peak rate.
Also keep an eye on the standing charge, though that usually has less of an impact on overall annual energy costs. The best EV tariffs normally provide a low-cost all-round package.
THE BEST HEAT PUMP TARIFF
OCTOPUS ENERGY
Octopus has a dedicated heat pump tariff called Cosy Octopus. The tariff has 3 different rates, so it’s a bit confusing, but this table breaks it all down:
So effectively you get two low-rate, 17.5p per kWh ‘Cosy’ periods during the day when your heat pump will require most energy.
The standard rate of 29p is fine, but the peak rate at 46p is very high. The 4pm to 7pm period is when you are likely to be using quite a bit of electricity in the home, so you need to be aware of this high rate and how it will impact your bills.
The rates in the table above are approximate and will vary depending on where you live.
OVO ENERGY
OVO are also targeting heat pump owners with their Heat Pump Plus tariff. Here are the details:
So, again, as with their EV tariff, OVO is undercutting Octopus on the headline rates and offers the cheapest electricity tariff for heat pumps: 15p compared to 17.5p. They are also sticking to the approach of allowing you to power your heat pump 24 hours a day at the reduced rate, rather than restricting you to specific times.
At the moment, Heat Pump Plus is not as flexible as Cosy Octopus in terms of the heat pump equipment it is compatible with. You will need to have a heat pump made by Vaillant and only specific models qualify. We are official Vaillant partners and can advise further on compatibility.
Also, at the moment, OVO say on their website that the Heat Pump Plus tariff is limited to the first 100 customers who sign up, so it might be worth waiting until the tariff has settled down and proven itself.
OTHER HEAT PUMP TARIFFS TO CONSIDER
There don’t seem to be any further specialist heat pump tariffs available on the market. No doubt more will appear over time.
So, in summary, there are probably six options to consider for heat pump owners, depending on what other technologies you have installed:
- Cosy Octopus, assuming you can stomach the high peak rate.
- OVO Heat Pump Plus if you can get on the scheme and want a Vaillant unit.
- Sign up to Intelligent Octopus Go if you have a compatible electric car and charger, and make use of their 6-hour cheap rate to power the heat pump some of the time.
- Sign up to standard Octopus Go if you don’t have a compatible electric car or charger, and make use of their 4-hour cheap rate to power the heat pump some of the time.
- Look at Octopus Flux or Intelligent Octopus Flux (more details below) if you have solar panels and battery storage as well.
- Consider Cosy Octopus, and add Outgoing Octopus, if you have both a heat pump and solar panels, but no battery storage.
THE BEST SOLAR EXPORT TARIFF
THE SMART EXPORT GUARANTEE
The government has set up a scheme with energy suppliers called the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG). Under this scheme you get paid for exporting solar electricity to the grid.
However, the rate at which you get paid for this exported energy varies considerably from supplier to supplier. Here are some of the best solar export tariffs currently available:
There are other SEG tariffs available, but many of them force you to get renewable energy equipment installed by the supplier in order to secure the rate. We don’t think that’s fair, and you will often be over-paying for the renewable technology just to get on the tariff.
The Scottish Power SmartGen tariff of 12p per kWh allows you to stay with your current energy supplier. All of the other ones require you to switch to the relevant supplier, assuming you are not already with them.
THE BEST BATTERY STORAGE TARIFF
INTELLIGENT OCTOPUS FLUX
First, let’s look at the eligibility criteria for the Intelligent Octopus Plus tariff. You must:
- Have solar panels
- Have GivEnergy battery storage (no other makes currently compatible)
- Be on an Octopus Energy export tariff, like Outgoing Fixed
- Have an iOS or Android smartphone or tablet
If you do meet these criteria, then you get access to the following import and export rates:
Precise rates will vary depending on where you live. The peak rate runs from 4pm until 7pm.
So, the best tactic is to charge your battery at 26p off-peak and then discharge your battery during the peak period, thereby avoiding importing much electricity at 34.5p.
Octopus takes control of your battery and charges and discharges it at the optimum times to make the most savings. It all happens automatically.
Excess solar electricity stored in your battery will also be exported to the grid and you get paid either 26p or 34.5p, depending on the time of the export.
We have to admit that the Intelligent Octopus Plus tariff is a confusing tariff to be on. We can help you work out whether it would make sense for you or not, given your specific circumstances.
The Octopus Plus tariff is also not compatible with the Tesla Powerwall – the leading battery storage product currently available in the UK – so this tariff won’t be appropriate if you have a Powerwall.
OCTOPUS FLUX
To get round the problem of not being compatible with all types of battery storage, Octopus also has a simpler solar and battery tariff called Octopus Flux (no ‘Intelligent’ at the front). Also still in beta.
On Octopus Flux, you can charge your battery over a 3-hour period from 2am each day at 17p per kWh. Here is a summary of the current import and export rates (exact prices depend on your location):
You can see there’s a high-cost peak charge of 40.5p from 4pm to 7pm. Octopus encourages you to discharge the battery during the peak period, to avoid importing too much peak electricity.
Conclusion & Next Steps
Trying to work which is the best electricity tariff for a home with renewable energy systems installed is a real minefield.
Some tariffs are perfect for one technology, but don’t suit another. Others force you to buy technology from the supplier to get the better rate, but then you will probably end up over-paying for the equipment itself.
We hope the guide above can give you some pointers with respect to key areas to consider for each technology. For a full audit of your current set-up – and future plans – together with tariff recommendations, please get in touch with our Energy Team.
