The standard electricity tariff in the UK is still an eye-watering 28p per kilowatt hour. In February, by “gaming” the variable price tariff he’s on and making the most efficient use of the solar panels and batteries in his home, PC Pro reader Rob Tweed managed to get his average price down to 9.8p – just over a third of what most people are paying at the most expensive time of year.
Rob’s setup is nothing short of ingenious. He uses software he coded himself to perfectly optimise when he draws power from the grid to charge his batteries, assuming the solar panels on his roof haven’t already done the job for him. The software pulls in data from a highly accurate weather forecasting service, so he knows almost exactly how much energy his solar panels will generate in the next few days and how much he’ll need to draw from the grid. When the sun doesn’t shine, Rob’s software ensures the batteries are automatically recharged when electricity’s at its cheapest – often at 2am in the morning, when he’s soundly tucked up in bed in his warm house.
Now, let’s be frank. Rob’s handcoded setup is amazing, but probably beyond the majority of even PC Pro’s technically literate readership (although, as we’ll discover later, he’s hoping his software will soon be more widely available). But there’s still a huge amount of home energy optimisation and automation most readers could pull off using opensource software such as Home Assistant. You don’t even need solar panels on the roof to benefit.
We’re at what feels like an inflexion point for home energy management. The variable tariffs are there, the software’s there, millions have solar panels on their roofs and batteries in their homes, but those things are rarely joined up. It’s within the gift of the technically literate to make that happen and benefit from energy savings that the mainstream consumer simply won’t achieve. We’re going to show you how you can use your tech knowledge to build your own smart grid and benefit from cheaper bills.
All the gear but no idea
Solar panel installations are once again soaring in the UK. Almost 190,000 households had solar panels fitted
