CK Energy talks about the growing use of solar power
CHRIS Kennedy of CK Energy talks about the growing use of solar power in the agriculture industry.
With the big electricity hike of 2022/23 in the rear-view mirror, which saw some poor souls paying 15 times as much as they did in 2021, customers are now seeing a somewhat more ‘manageable’ cost of electric. This means the government succeeded in brainwashing us into thinking paying triple the amount for electricity is actually acceptable.
The majority of customers out there reacted quickly to combat the rising costs by fitting solar PV. However, some have tried to ride it out, to the detriment to their cash flow, and were not helped by the rise in the costs from other areas like animal feeding, fuel, and minerals.
For those who chose to invest in future-proofing their electricity cost, we don’t see any complaints.
However, we do see that export prices are somewhat non reflective of the cost to buy it for those who can export their excess solar PV power. We urge people not to jump and sign up for another year with anyone without doing their homework and look into what others are offering. There are deals to be had; be patient and look for them, as in some instances, you may even get a better price than last year for both import and export.
For customers wanting to use their solar PV better, we would be happy to spend time and show them how. With our customer base, we see huge cost savings from one dairy farmer to another, simply by choices they make. Ice banks may be seem old hat; however, setting them up to accumulate ice during daylight hours rather than at off peak times can save up to 60% of overall costs and capture a higher percentage of solar PV before it exports.
The biggest questions we get asked are, will batteries work for me? Are they worth it? The answer to all these questions prior to now was no. The costs of these systems were horrifically expensive, whether that was due to a boom in sales or because the raw materials to produce them were difficult to obtain, we are unsure. The biggest thing in our eyes was having a supplier available in the UK to give support and good technical know-how, as there were so many to choose from. This side of the industry has been working away hard in the background, and we are happy to say we feel its ready to deploy, and people should always consider battery storage as an option.
Costs have almost halved, and control systems are good for both user and technical support. But again, don’t buy a system and simply continue doing what your doing. Look at your site and consider what can you do different to utilise these systems. Off peak rates are a must if you can get them. If you bought a Lamborghini and someone said you can have cheap fuel but you can only fill up at night, I am confident you would see a queue of Aventadors outside BP filling stations at 1 o’clock in the morning.
Your battery is the same, if you have not produced enough PV power during the day because it’s winter, battery systems can be timed to charge during off peak hours. If you don’t have a cheap nighttime rate, then in reality, you are only going to use around 70% of your battery’s capabilities.
The next biggest question we get asked is, will we get grid connection?
The answer is unless you simply want to export all the power from the solar
PV, then grid connection is not a necessity. At CK Energy, we navigate grid connection every hour of every day for customers and see them through to fruition. With years of
experience and site data, we can see multiple sites with no capacity to export still flourishing, capturing at least 60% of what their solar PV produces, and we are currently retrospectively fitting battery storage to capture the rest and utilise it on site at multiple sites.
In conclusion, our opinion is the most important keys to having
these systems are not to go too small, as you won’t see the benefit or a decent enough reduction on electricity costs.
Always consider batteries, and if not, certainly keep it them in mind for the future when doing your initial setup. Don’t get too hung up on whether you can export or not. Lastly, consider a reputable suppler/installer!