I’ve noticed this week Amber being a bit more aggressive in discharging my battery to the grid when export prices are high… but it’s mostly getting it wrong unfortunately.
Three times it has discharged during the evening peak (5-6:30pm) when export prices were 58c/kWh or higher. Sounds great… except the problem is that grid rates in NSW at the moment are elevated (usually more than 60c/kWh) from about 3pm to 8pm. At this time of year, my battery ceases filling by 3pm, so my battery is already depleted below 70% before grid export even starts.
So the result is, after about 30 minutes of peak grid export, my battery is down below 30%, and I am almost certain to run out of battery between 6:30 and 7:30 (especially if we turn the AC on ‘cos it’s cold), and then pay those high grid rates.
So Amber is selling my electricity for 30 minutes at 58c/kWh, but I then have to buy it back at 60 to 70c/kWh for up to 90 minutes. I come out behind! I’d be better off not selling at 58c/kWh.
I don’t know how others have gone with this kind of thing, but for me, I suspect battery discharge to the grid will only be a financial positive for me if the export price is much, much higher, like a few dollars per kWh. I need to stop Amber selling below that.
I’ve had only one day so far where I’ve made money, and that’s when export prices hit $7/kWh for a 30-minute period.
Three times it has discharged during the evening peak (5-6:30pm) when export prices were 58c/kWh or higher. Sounds great… except the problem is that grid rates in NSW at the moment are elevated (usually more than 60c/kWh) from about 3pm to 8pm. At this time of year, my battery ceases filling by 3pm, so my battery is already depleted below 70% before grid export even starts.
So the result is, after about 30 minutes of peak grid export, my battery is down below 30%, and I am almost certain to run out of battery between 6:30 and 7:30 (especially if we turn the AC on ‘cos it’s cold), and then pay those high grid rates.
So Amber is selling my electricity for 30 minutes at 58c/kWh, but I then have to buy it back at 60 to 70c/kWh for up to 90 minutes. I come out behind! I’d be better off not selling at 58c/kWh.
I don’t know how others have gone with this kind of thing, but for me, I suspect battery discharge to the grid will only be a financial positive for me if the export price is much, much higher, like a few dollars per kWh. I need to stop Amber selling below that.
I’ve had only one day so far where I’ve made money, and that’s when export prices hit $7/kWh for a 30-minute period.