@Craig Chamberlain it’s now public mate. Octopus are shaking up the game no more MCS certificate needed. MCS already thrown their toys out of the pram and complaining that octopus have opened up the gateway. I imagine more companies are going to follow suit soon so guys and girls fill your boots get paid for what what you actually produce. I’ll be going the same way once I’m finished with my provider. Link below
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Kr4KODtHOKs&feature=shareb
As an Octopus customer with a self installed solar system without MCS cert, I've been talking to them about this. Its certainly not opening the doors to everyone. Its a trial, with a £250 price tag to participate, and I don't believe its even for solar, told it for car chargers and those with battery systems. Octopus make too much on solar referral payments to pre arranged MCS certified installers to want to give that up, Even though its not a legal requirement.
My system is fully MCS compatible, but I cant get a cert....even offering a decent payment for someone to view it and sign it off...So if you can help me and want some easy holiday money get in touch..can provide photos and video of everything, and not asking for any guarantees. Just a genuine MSC cert.
I've got full DNO approval for my system, it is time consuming as I went down the G98 first , then expanded to G99 as extra panels were added. My electrical drawing was just basic with pencil and ruler and took about 30 mins...must include fuse ratings, isolators, and G100 protection.
I'm still pushing Octopus currently, and have sent a letter to Greg which they suggest, but as I've not heard any reply expect thats another refusal. Next will be the official complaint as I'm claiming my system and installer is now MCS compatible as I'm just putting the finishing touches to an audit system, which was the only excuse Octopus could come up with for not granting me export payments (but can still send for free).
Think its going to be a long campaign.
@daza well that all escalated rather rapidly didn't it! Haha!
Looking at the comments in the YouTube video you posted, mostly it seems that people are glad that the MCS cartel has been (perhaps) broken up. But I was also struck by comments from sparkies who have invested thousands of pounds in achieving MCS status only for that now to be undermined. I feel really bad for people caught in the middle.
But in the long term I think this is definitely a big step forward for renewables and ultimately the planet! It should remove some cost and friction from the move to adopt more renewable energy. I just hope that everyone respects this new opportunity for what it is and ensures that any installations that are applying for an export tariff are suitably well engineered and approved by DNOs etc. We can't afford to feed negative news headlines which might give the MCS folks traction to reverse this decision by Octopus.
But yeah, this is a fantastic outcome, if a little unexpected! :)
@Craig Chamberlain yes the bubble has burst but most sparks I know want to do it I’ve been telling my missis cousins they need to get into this side as well, they are doing commercial electrical work, all of this constant paying out as they got to keep paying to be accredited and then for every new edition reg book. This is a pay road block that has been lifted.
Unfortunately I think there will be some issues you look at house electrics and there is there we are all human and not infallible and also cowboys in every trade, MCS have just presented a course and people have past it, that doesn’t mean one when time constraints kick in they won’t lash it in or for more profit to get to the next job. But I too hope competent people do this and do a good job as the paywall isn’t just MCS it’s the companies that charge extra because MCS ie the course keeping it up to date they want payback on that investment. I think we are about to see the install as well as the installed material price go down to for a full install which hopefully would push up adoption.
I can see what octopus want to do it’s funny as that’s the same thing or similar thing Tesla want to do I’m not sure if it’s just there home batteries or maybe they set sights on vehicle to grid also.
I was flat out turned down by Octopus and pointed to a waiting list form...........
@dmsims do you mean you were turned down as a new customer, or as an existing customer seeking to obtain an export tariff? I'd guess you mean the former and as @Daza says, it could be due to a surge in new customers due to the relaxing of MCS requirements. Added to that the fact that for the last couple of years most customers have been discouraged from switching supplier due to the price cap so perhaps Octopus had fewer staff working in that area and are now having to redeploy staff to handle the influx.
I'd love to see the MCS cartel broken up. Reviewed some large system quotes recently for a couple of friends as I've gat a trade account and can see and purchase wholesale. Hell of a lot of hidden mark ups, 5-6K profit in a 16k quote.
However I've also been informed that companies like Octopus get £500-£2000 per install for referral alone, then its "the best three in your area", not telling the customer the size of the pre-arranged backhander. Of course got to be MCS certified, which keeps the club running and stops decent electricians and builders from quoting.
Believe this practice without letting customers know smacks of the 1980's endowment scams, and we know what happened there.
All these extra costs bang the customers quotes right up, as a lot of hands to pay. Also goes against policy in my book of promoting green energy, as its keeping instal prices high.
In Australia right now can get a 6KW install for £1750, thats Perth region.
But even if I had been interested in paying twice the price, the estimated installation date was about 9 months into the future whereas I could do it myself more or less immediately. Or at least as soon as I got G99 approval.
I'm quite sure that, if MCS was no longer a thing, then many more electricians would be able to participate in PV and Battery installations, and that would benefit everyone and of course the planet itself!
I hope that Octopus aren't backing away from what appeared to be a bold decision to sidestep MCS. I feel very lucky that I got in at exactly the right time but feel bad for those such as yourself, who have been campaigning for longer than me and are still being blocked by red tape. I sincerely hope that red tape is cut for you soon.
Yeah my capital payback time is somewhere around 5 years and maybe sooner depending on how energy prices change in that period. That's probably half of what it would otherwise have been and I honestly think I have a better solution for my individual needs.
Getting MCS installers to sign off DIY projects is certainly problematic and to be honest I think it would be difficult for MCS installers to do this without leaving themselves open to losing their MCS status. That said, if the house of cards is looking like being torn down then maybe existing MCS installers might be more willing to take that risk to earn some extra cash before it all collapses. If it's a case of paying Octopus £250 to get on the trial or pay an installer £250 to sign off the installation then why not? In fact this would probably be the final nail in the coffin for MCS if the market was flooded with MCS certs although I suspect MCS might notice if a company doing say 20 certs a week suddenly started doing 100! :D
Speaking of prices, even the Trina Vertex S 425W Black White Mono PV panels I bought back in late May have dropped significantly in price and are just £127.68 inc VAT each now, down from £163.80 (both from midsummer wholesale). These are really nice panels by the way - highly recommended. My array is 6.8kW and would cost £2042 at this new price.
Most of the quotes I've seen include labour costs of 1500 to 2000 per install, and most single roof installs take 2 days, not counting scaffolding or multi tower erecting. However when you delve in deeper into the quotes often see things like "switches and cables £400", plus inflated prices per panel. Those AC and DC isolators must have certainly gone up in price, and as for cabling, they must have it coming out of their ears because all customers are being charged similar. However thats just making the quote look right, as if they put in the truth... referral backhander...£2000, labour £800, MSC associated costs £1000 profit £4000 householders would soon start moaning especially when the extras and profit adds up more than the base equipment cost.
