Bring Me Sunshine!

 

There is a pink furry octopus on the sofa. She is 25cm tall and I'm calling her Olivia Octopus [after Olivia Colman, the bright and cheery actress from Norfolk]

Somehow Bob 'won' her from Octopus Energy, who are our "suppliers". Except they don't supply us with very much energy, because of our solar panels on the roof and the storage batteries connected to them. In the 6 months March to August, we got 98.5% of our energy from the panels. And of the power generated, over 68% was sold back to the grid. So as well as paying for the 1.5% we got from the grid, our Octopus account has built up a very healthy balance. Enough to pay for any electricity used over the winter and cover the costs of the oil for our heating. 

When Bob phoned, to ask if some of the surplus could be transferred to our bank account [for the oil payment] the guy said he would have to check - we are supposed to keep 'in the black '., to ensure we can pay for power in the darker winter months. He said he would call up our account on screen. Bob said there was a pause, then the Octopus man said "Blimey!!" He was quite astounded by the effectiveness and efficiency of our panels. We feel very grateful that we were able to have the system fitted when we did.

If you are considering solar, do check out your fitter's credentials, don't have panels without batteries, and make sure you have the right paperwork connecting you to the grid so you receive your payments. We have found Octopus to be helpful and reliable. 

I'm still not sure how I feel about Olivia though!