Talk Morgan Forums Thread Like Summary - Is this the most condescending customer service ev

We have a power cut since 0900 today. Aside from texts of delays to fixing it and one crew going off shift. They sent this.


Winter is here and temperatures are low, so we understand that it can be very concerning to have a power cut as this may have affected your heating.

Should you have a gas hob, you may be able to carefully ignite it with matches or a lighter in order for you to warm up with a hot drink or meal. Please only attempt this if you are confident it can be done safely.

If you have someone in the property who may be more vulnerable to the cold please do not hesitate to call us free on 105.

We will do our best to provide additional care and support whilst work continues to get your power back on ASAP.

Whilst very inconvenient, I must admit the biggest concern should be the potential impact on peoples ability to stay warm and not suffer hyperthermia whilst the power is out.

However in this very snow flaky society we have these days, and with people working from home etc, it appears more mundane domestic issues like battery life may be more critical to the affected outage audience than the need to ensure they stay warm. Reflected in the mug of tea I had the other day which stated on the cup......hot liquid!

Goodness knows what will happen when good old common sense dies out and people lose the instructions on how to live life.

I've had solar panels on my house (it's a medium size, detached 3 bed) for the last year and this is my calculation:

Initial capital outlay

12 solar panels (400 W nominal output, £300 per panel). £3600
3 Kw inverter (Growatt 5000) £1300
9 KWh batteries (900£ per KWh, Growatt) £7000
Installation (including scaffolding) £2000
Remote immersion heater £500

Total £14400

Over 25 years, expect to replace the invertor twice and the batteries once (and assume battery cost is halved by then)

So the 25 year outlay is 14.4 + 2*1.3 + 3.5 = say 20k.

Last year my usage was:

1.25 MWh imported from the grid.
Cost of electricity units:   £188
Standing charge for the year: £121
So the total bill was about £400 (I was on a cheap contract up to the middle of the year, but that expired).

Overall I consumed 3.7 MWh in the year (I do not have an electric or hybrid car). I generated rather more than that and exported 1.7 MWh back to the grid (at 4p a unit I think, ffs, so this generated about £80 of revenue).

So assuming I use about 4 MWh per year and assume that 75% of this is now supplied by the solar and based on my current OVO contract (
48p per day standing charge and 28p per unit) then:

My savings yearly would be (4000 * 0.75 * 28p) = £840 per year.

To recoup the 20k outlay takes 20/0.84 = 24 years - by which time the solar panels, batteries and inverter will all need replacement.

So basically I expect to just about break even.

Of course, we could make the calculation more complicated by assuming energy costs go up over the 25 years, but then we ought to also consider that the value of money also goes down during that period due to inflation - not sure how to account for this properly.

I don’t see how sub 10-year pay back periods can be achieved (that would mean having a savings of more than £2k a year which would mean I would need to be consuming 5-6 MWh a year, but that would mean a bigger solar inverter and more solar panels and more batteries, which means more capital cost - and to do that I would either need an electric car or to use electricity in place of gas for heating).

 What am I doing wrong? Did I get ripped off on the initial installation (which was a council supported scheme, with allegedly cost savings due to scale)? Do I have too few/too many batteries - or do I need to just consume more electricity per year? Do I need to buy an electric car and get a cheaper tariff?

Don't get me wrong. Solar power is (imho) great and necessary.