Is Intelligent Octopus Flux the best solar export tariff for everyone?
Intelligent Octopus Flux. Is it time to put your feet up and wait for the money to roll in?
Review written by: Sarah Chambers (aka Sarah Go Green)
I get contacted by people asking which Octopus export tariff is best. Usually, they are people like myself who have or are going to have solar panels installed and are trying to work out the best Octopus export tariff. But sometimes I also get contact asked by solar installers who want confirmation that Intelligent Octopus Flux is suitable for everyone as a plug-and-play export tariff but it’s not.
Intelligent Octopus Flux
Intelligent Octopus Flux is a smart import and export tariff designed to take the hassle out of managing your home solar and battery storage.
- You’ll get paid the same price for exporting your electricty as importing it.
- There is a peak period between 4 pm and 7 pm. The rate goes up but the import and export rates match.
It’s designed to utilise the grid as a giant battery and take the hassle out of thinking about your solar generation.
For example, if you export 1 kWh to the grid and import 1 kWh back because the price for importing and exporting is the same you’ll pay nothing for your electricty, subject to a few considerations I will go through below.
For zero bills to occur you’ll need to generate the same amount of electricty throughout the year as you export to the grid. ( You may have to produce a little more than you import from the grid as converting and sending the energy from your battery can lose some power along the way.)
- Look at your expected solar generation compared to your usage for the year.
- Consider how much energy you use during the peak period.
Octopus has the power to make a difference with Intelligent Octopus Flux.
Octopus will utilise your home battery at peak times. They’ll keep your home battery in reserve for the peak period, 4 pm to 7 pm.
Throughout the year you will inevitably need more electricty than you generate at peak times and Octopus will turn on your battery to help meet demand. They will never let the battery fall below a 20% charge rate, I am guessing this is just in case you need it in an emergency.
If you use too much energy at peak times your home battery won’t always be able to provide enough power to run your home. This is something to keep in mind if you use a lot of electricity between 4 pm and 7 pm. You will be importing electricty at the peak rate from the national grid.
How can you make any money on Intelligent Octopus Flux?
There are so many YouTube videos and blogs on this subject it can make your head spin. Octopus smart tariffs are a subject I love to look into. I get giddy thinking about how Octopus Energy is making a fully electric and decarbonised energy future a reality.
It shows in everything they do including supplying solutions where zero bills homes are a reality. However, to make the most of Octopus smart tariffs consider which tariff is right for you. There isn’t just one green and gold standard tariff that will meet everyone’s requirements.
Intelligent Octopus Flux wasn’t designed to make customers big export credits on their energy bills, although it can if;
- You have lots of solar panels
- Lots of battery storage.
- Export more than you import especially at peak times.
- Use it as a seasonal tariff taking summer solar export credits and switching to a more favourable tariff for the winter.
Octopus Intelligent Flux was designed as a hassle-free import and export tariff that will;
- Help balance the National Grid.
- Utilise the National Grid as a giant battery.
- Reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
- Work as a set-and-forget tariff for 365 days of the year.
- Bring electricty bills down as close to zero as possible.
Even if you import more electricty than you export to the National Grid compared to a home without solar panels you will make a saving. It’s almost a one-in-and-one-out system where you’ll pay for the electricity you didn’t generate at home. You won’t have to overthink anything, you won’t even need to clock watch for the off-peak rate if you don’t want to your overall energy bills will go down.
Is Octopus Intelligent Flux right for you?
When you have a quote for solar panels there is always a graph showing your expected solar generation and your usage through the year. Most UK solar installers use the same geographical information system to estimate solar generation.
Below you can see my estimated solar generation.
The pink vertical lines on the chart show my expected solar generation throughout the year and the grey line behind my energy use.
Octopus Energy supplies my electricty and installed my solar and battery storage so I know my estimated usage will be correct.
As you can see I will only generate on average 73% of my home energy needs through my 15 solar panels. I will also only export more than I import between April and the end of August so for the one-in-one-out system to work for me on Intelligent Octopus Flux I will need to be aware that putting my feet up will not give me zero bills. It will reduce them but not enough to make me happy. I love looking at other tariffs even if it does mean being more hands-on. For me, it’s a balance between not overthinking and saving money on my home energy bill.
@sarah_go_green #solarpower #solarinstallation #solarpanel #octopusenergy #sustainabilitytiktok @Octopus Energy @GivEnergy ♬ original sound – sarah_go_green
If I did want to take advantage of the high export rates on Intelligent Octopus Flux and make a credit on my bill I could switch to this tariff between May and the end of August. Then I could take the export credits made in the summer and run. But where I run takes to takes some consideration. I have to be mindful about the time I want to spend thinking about it.
About the author: I’ve Been a Happy Octopus Energy Customer for 6 Years and the cherry on the cake is they installed my solar panels and battery storage too.
You can find me on X and TikTok where I connect with around 7,000 followers looking for practical ways to electrify their homes and reduce energy bills.
Feel free to follow me Sarah_Go_Green and join the conversation – I’d love to hear from you!
I’m also featured on the Octopus website and their YouTube channel as a solar customer. I’ve been on BBC News, Radio Wales, published in the Telegraph for owning part of a wind turbine and had a feature in Bloomberg.
Even if your only aim is to lower your household bills and find the cheapest Octopus tariff I help there too.
Octopus Agile for those who want to roll their sleeves up could save you more over winter.
If you are comfortable with price changes every 30 minutes Octopus Agile is a great tariff. I have watched the prices throughout the year and in general outside the peak times of 4 pm to 7 pm they have been lower than the standard variable and on several occasions have plummeted. When this happened customers were paid to take energy off the grid as the price dropped below zero.
On Octopus Agile you can fill your battery at the cheapest rate and run your home on it. You won’t be relying on the National Grid to act as an extended battery as you would with Intelligent Octopus Flux. However, you will still be helping to balance it by importing energy when it is the greenest. Usually, the cheapest energy is the greenest too.
When electricty is abundant because the wind is blowing or the sun is shining it is also the cheapest on Octopus Agile. So it’s a win-win.
Octopus Agile unlike Intelligent Octopus Flux doesn’t combine both import and export. Although there is an Outgoing Octopus Agile tariff too. You are free to combine Octopus Agile with any Octopus export tariff such as Octopus Outgoing fixed which is a flat rate of 15p per kWh.
Summary
Octopus Intelligent Flux isn’t for everyone, for starters, you need a GivEnergy battery. It’s a tariff that automates your home energy turning your home into a virtual power station. Octopus does all the leg work.
You can switch to Intelligent Octopus Flux as a summer tariff. By doing so you’ll take advantage of the high export rates and run for the hills before winter.
Octopus Intelligent Flux is also a great set-and-forget tariff.
Whichever export tariff you choose you’ll be reducing your bills whilst helping to decarbonise the grid all from your rooftop.
As this is a beta tariff things might not always work out exactly as planned but I trust Octopus to do the right thing. The only way to test if it works is to switch to the tariff and try it out.
You can revisit your Octopus tariffs at any time. If you decide to switch tariffs and try a new approach you can as there are no exit fees.
Customer review.
I created this website. It is not managed or owned by Octopus Energy. It is just a website created by me, Sarah Go Green, a mum, home energy geek and a very happy Octopus Energy customer.
I didn’t get paid for this review. Should you decide to have Octopus install solar panels we can split £200. Just quote code 9546o to Octopus. Let them know any time before you sign the final sales agreement. This has not influenced my review, it’s just a perk I would be delighted to share.
You can read further independent Octopus Energy reviews on Trustpilot where 89% of customers give them 5 stars.
Other posts by Sarah which may be of interest:
- Full review of Intelligent Octopus Flux.
- Intelligent Octopus Go – The most popular EV tariff in the UK.
- My own choice of Octopus tariffs – Solar panels, battery storage and an EV.
- Octopus Flux Review.
- Octopus solar and battery installation review 2024.
- Why I’m exporting all my solar power instead of using it?
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