Kemi Badenoch wants drill baby drill. UK Fuel security by getting out every bit of Oil & Gas from the North Sea.

To be sold on global market and none processed in Scotland since Grangemouth refinery has closed.

Somehow she thinks the Decomissioning planned for rigs will be put on hold.

The demaning already underway stopped.

Maybe She or the C&U Party are looking at extra funding from those OIL & GAS Corporations from the USA that have the UK,s best interests at heart.

She wants the TRANSITION to renewables put on the back boiler.

To be restarted when they know it is too late and the UK,s lights are going out.

@lol-lol There are those in Scotland against Pylons, but that is because really they are there to export the electricity.

Some how the crazies in England are against the new pylons. Cut them off then. Charge treble tariffs where there are hold ups in improving the National Grid for their area.

Edited 31 August, 202531 Aug by Ootohere

I renewed my Instavolt App / RFID so that is can get the 54 pence a kWh 8pm - 7am if i need to Rapid Charge the MG5 before going away from home and i have not time to charge as much as needed Offpeak or Day tariff @ home on the 3 pin cable.

The Angus Council chargers are 50 kW max and 60 pence a kWh and i would use if needs must day time.

On 15/07/2025 at 06:27, Ootohere said:

So grants or money off some electric cars £37,000 and less and various amounts. Manufacturers to apply for which ones in their range it will be. Looks like being a complicated scheme. No idea how it affects those that lease / rent their vehicles and no matter if £30,000 or £27,000 they are not buying, just leasing. PS. Will an Alpine A290 meet the strict environmental requirements, or a Abarth 600-e?

EDIT.

Band 1. £3,750

Band 2. £1,500

The Government has actually published all the requirements finally

There are lots of requirements and one that might stuff those that lease or rent is section under warranties that says consumer has to be given option to extend the warranty 2 years

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-apply-for-vehicle-eligibility-for-the-electric-car-grant/how-to-apply-for-vehicle-eligibility-for-the-electric-car-grant

22 minutes ago, Graham Butcher said:

This only happening because of the whole push for Net Zero that you get free periods of lecky if your with the right supplier and have the ability to use it in the intended manner.

I expect that if the status quo was reversed and we were driving around in electric cars, and it was discovered that electric was not as good for the environment as they thought and they wanted to get more of us back into ICE cars, then yes, free petrol/diesel would very much be on the cards. Or should I say a price cut, I mean, just how many miles of driving can you get from 1 hours free lecky, it would take just mere seconds to put that much fuel into a tank.

Not only that but once they have us all driving electric, you can wave bye bye to free lecky and also all hopes of cheap motoring as they will need to replace the current fuel duty and that will be coming from the EV drivers.

Completely wrong.

Free Electricity sessions occur when a combination of good wind in the North Sea and UK solar means it price drops to zero or below so Octopus can give electricity away without financial cost to themselves..

1 minute ago, SurreyJohn said:

The Government has actually published all the requirements finally

There are lots of requirements and one that might stuff those that lease or rent is section under warranties that says consumer has to be given option to extend the warranty 2 years

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-apply-for-vehicle-eligibility-for-the-electric-car-grant/how-to-apply-for-vehicle-eligibility-for-the-electric-car-grant

Looks like the long battery warranty and after market issues must be meet not just clean production

Renault etc will need to up their warranty to what it was, if worth adding that and it is less of a cost than getting the extra 2250 EV grant.

21 minutes ago, lol-lol said:

Completely wrong.

Free Electricity sessions occur when a combination of good wind in the North Sea and UK solar means it price drops to zero or below so Octopus can give electricity away without financial cost to themselves..

Oh dear, that is precisely what they want you to believe, we shall have to wait for the real truth to be released on that one for sure, just hope I'm around to see it happen.

2 minutes ago, Graham Butcher said:

Oh dear, that is precisely what they want you to believe, we shall have to wait for the real truth to be released on that one for sure, just hope I'm around to see it happen.

We know how the electricity supply to residential works via Octopus's Agile tariff which tracks the market and sometimes goes very low, zero and even negative.

We know that almost £1B of electricity gas been lost by switching off generating sources.

It's cheaper to give away this power than actually get the generators to stand down and then power backup again when the next peak occurs.

Octopus customers, and other electricity suppliers, can pass on power and not charge customers and everyone benefits.

Greg Jackson has been asked to work with UK government to improve the UK' electricity supply even more than the revolution he fas already implemented.

Edited 31 August, 202531 Aug by lol-lol

2 hours ago, lol-lol said:

We know how the electricity supply to residential works via Octopus's Agile tariff which tracks the market and sometimes goes very low, zero and even negative.

We know that almost £1B of electricity gas been lost by switching off generating sources.

It's cheaper to give away this power than actually get the generators to stand down and then power backup again when the next peak occurs.

Octopus customers, and other electricity suppliers, can pass on power and not charge customers and everyone benefits.

Greg Jackson has been asked to work with UK government to improve the UK' electricity supply even more than the revolution he fas already implemented.

If that was 100% true then why don't all suppliers do the same for all their customers and not just those who have an EV?? It just reeks of a marketing ploy to encourage the greater uptake of electric cars. Either way, make hay while the sun shines (see what I did there?) because those perks will be swept away away as they need to bolster the public purse as fuel duty falls away, it will be transferred to the electric cars.

Edited 31 August, 202531 Aug by Graham Butcher

3 minutes ago, Graham Butcher said:

If that was 100% true then why don't all suppliers do the same for all their customers and just those who have an EV??

We don't have an EV, are not on an EV tariff and are not with Octopus but also get free electricity for a couple of hours a week at the moment. I think it all depends on your supplier.

1 hour ago, skomaz said:

We don't have an EV, are not on an EV tariff and are not with Octopus but also get free electricity for a couple of hours a week at the moment. I think it all depends on your supplier.

I suspect in that case that there is still some sort of master plan at play here.

2 hours ago, Graham Butcher said:

If that was 100% true then why don't all suppliers do the same for all their customers and not just those who have an EV?? It just reeks of a marketing ploy to encourage the greater uptake of electric cars. Either way, make hay while the sun shines (see what I did there?) because those perks will be swept away away as they need to bolster the public purse as fuel duty falls away, it will be transferred to the electric cars.

It is home generation that is surging as this recent report states.

More than 1.5 million households in the UK have solar panels, according to the latest government data.

That means 5.5% of the UK’s 28.6 million households have gone solar.

As recently as December 2020, fewer than a million UK homes had solar panels – which shows how far we've come in relatively little time......

More than 1.5 million households in the UK have solar panels, according to the latest government data.

That means 5.5% of the UK’s 28.6 million households have gone solar.

As recently as December 2020, fewer than a million UK homes had solar panels – which shows how far we've come in relatively little time.....

South West England has the highest percentage of homes with solar panels, as you can see in the map below.

8.5% of households in the South West have gone solar, which puts the region well ahead of its closest competitors. Wales is second with 7.2%, just ahead of the East of England on 6.7%.

Wales is also the most enthusiastic about solar of the four UK nations, ahead of England on 5.2%, Scotland on 5%, and Northern Ireland on 3.8%.

How many homes have solar panels...

How many homes have solar panels in the UK? [2025]

Here's how many homes have solar panels in the UK, which areas have the most, and how the UK compares with Europe.

???

Where did the figures come from about how many homes in the UK have solar panels?

Is it from Government grants applied from & received, or from figures from professional fitters, or the number of Panel sold, from the Office for National Statistics or the HMRC.

It is a wet finger in the air guess, staistics, guesstimates, make it up as a minimum.

Like how many UK houshold's have Private Driveways or Off-street parking.

'They' do not know.

Just 'More than'....

Edited 1 September, 20251 Sep by Ootohere

Well that is not what I would call a surge, an extra 0.5% in 5 years. I have panels on my roof and have had for years, the only one out of 20 houses to have have them, so that ties with in with the 1% figure nicely. I have no storage though would not want any either.

Edited 1 September, 20251 Sep by Graham Butcher

An interesting figure the SMMT or the Dft / DVLA could maybe publish is how many BEV,s are registered in the UK and how many are on SORN or 'In trade' & how many have now got VED duty paid. & how many are VED class 'Disabled' & on the road covered by VED exempt certificates or with Motability Group exemption.

Over 1/4 of a million EV,s sold just in 2025. Holy camoly.

This is another Vlogger that is pretty Anti EV, and one that makes glaring errors quite a bit in Vids, and gives opinions. If he sticks to reading articles and not spinning one way or another then that comes down to the facts of articles being accurate.

High rate PIP Mobility component £77.05 a week if paying full amount to Lease a car, some are less than the £77.05 a week.

So not £77.75 a week. Since the Award is just the £77.05 a week until next Aprils rise.

Getting Facts from AI is an Issue, they are often wrong. Not factually correct.

Motability Adbvance payments were based on Purchase Price of car with Manufacturer discounting and depreciation anticipated. Resale value at Auction.

They are making losses, big losses and a Petrol or Diesel RRP might be lower than the EV, but the Manufacturer is selling the EV cheap to them. eg Ford Explorer / Capri.

They will sell End of Model Petrol / Diesels cheap sometimes to get rid of and the Advance Payment can be low on those. But the manufacturers are trying to help the Fleet C02 average and get the EV,s first registered.

Worth seeing how many £billion Motability have in the Bank. The 5 banks that have the Money, this being what was done to help them in 2008.

Edited 1 September, 20251 Sep by Ootohere

1 hour ago, Graham Butcher said:

Well that is not what I would call a surge, an extra 0.5% in 5 years. I have panels on my roof and have had for years, the only one out of 20 houses to have have them, so that ties with in with the 1% figure nicely. I have no storage though would not want any either.

Here in leafy Worcester Warndon Villages sweet suburbia I would say it seems about half the houses solar panels on the roofs, some even on NW,N or NE facing, how does that work out ? Some good (ie bad) solar sale persons there.

Impossible to tell how many have home batteries coupled with their solar. We need a good long power cut to see who is lit up like Crystal Palace and who is on candles. (even more dangerous than batteries I would be reckoning?)

EVs between 1 and 3 per household, the odd ICE dinosaur juice car still around sadly, waking the neighbours when starting off. Not like my Jean Michelle Jarre singing car.

Love Skoda advert..... Same geniuses who did the fantastic VW adverts of the last decades past it seems.....

Edited 1 September, 20251 Sep by lol-lol

2 hours ago, lol-lol said:

We need a good long power cut to see who is lit up like Crystal Palace and who is on candles.

My understanding is that not all solar battery charger/inverters are capable of running in off-line mode (i.e. during a power cut)?

My understanding is that all grid-connected PV systems in the UK must not operate in Island Mode when the grid supply is down.

3 hours ago, Warrior193 said:

My understanding is that all grid-connected PV systems in the UK must not operate in Island Mode when the grid supply is down.

My panels to batteries feeds my seperate circuit and not connected to the Grid for export to. It has been getting challenging as to where to put all the kwhs generated in PM period for use in the evenings.

Notice some degradation. In one of my batteries, ie a L ion one, other one of my bigger batteries, LFP, seems to be standing up better.

Mega bargains for solar generators seem to occur not until Black Friday - Cyber Monday. Will be looking out for one with a 3 to 4 kW output and around 4 kWh storage or bigger but one with trolley wheels and will take with me when I move house.

I'm back from Bergen Norway. over 24 hours of driving, over 1200 km. 177 km/Wh, which is 3.53 mi/kWh, lower than expected fo 15-20c perfect EV economy weather, but did have fully loaded car and driven up/down lots of mountain roads. All on Tesla superchargers paying most expensive rates without membership, comes to just under 1000 NOK, which is £75. It all happen to translates to convienent ~10p/mile.

Only had to detour and wait 5m for quick top up to return the vehicle above 75% to avoid any penalty. All other charging were done whever we happen to eat/rest. Never used lower 40% of the battery, quite a few times it was well over 95% as the car was charging faster than us eating. Lots of stalls so wasn't blocking anyone.

The Volvo EX40 twin motor is overall nice but traditional car, drives well, good one-pedal mapping. I personally didn't get on with it due to being a very traditional car (pilot assist not crystal clear when it's active, traditional driver's door pull and then double latch to access frunk storage, poor interior space with transmission tunnel, unconfigurable thottle delay accessing full power).

On 31/08/2025 at 23:53, Graham Butcher said:

master plan

Speaking of which, Tesla had very recently published their part 4:

Tesla’s Master Plan 4: Elon Musk’s Vision For The Future Of Energy & Mobility - Auto Times News

It sounds similar to how UK is (IMO rightly) approaching wind and thus free electricity sessions: sustainable abundance

At the heart of Master Plan 4 is the concept of an integrated energy ecosystem. Tesla intends to synergize its solar technology, battery storage, and electric vehicles to create a continuous cycle of clean energy usage. Learn more about Tesla’s comprehensive approach on the Tesla Energy page.

By leveraging solar roofs and Powerwall systems, Tesla envisions communities that are not only powered by renewable energy but can also feed surplus energy back into the grid.

In case anyone is interested, previous parts are available here:

Master Plans | Tesla

Regarding solar inverter. They are mostly grid-tied. You'll need grid-forming inverter and a gateway device to isolate your home to be resilient from power cuts.

But one grid-forming inverter could keep multiple grid-tied inverters online. My Tesla Powerwall 3 is able to keep 6 kW V2H and 3 kW solar inverter online and functioning as normal.

Edited 2 September, 20252 Sep by wyx087

24 minutes ago, wyx087 said:

Regarding solar inverter. They are mostly grid-tied. You'll need grid-forming inverter and a gateway device to isolate your home to be resilient from power cuts.

But one grid-forming inverter could keep multiple grid-tied inverters online. My Tesla Powerwall 3 is able to keep 6 kW V2H and 3 kW solar inverter online and functioning as normal.

This!

With a gateway device to automatically put your home into 'island mode' (i.e. not connected to the outside grid) an AC coupled battery system can provide its own mini-grid at 230V/50Hz. My Givenergy system does this without interruption when a power cut occurs and will allow my solar inverter to power the house and charge the battery. If there is insufficient solar, the battery does the rest.

37 minutes ago, wyx087 said:

Regarding solar inverter. They are mostly grid-tied. You'll need grid-forming inverter and a gateway device to isolate your home to be resilient from power cuts.

I wonder how many homeowners with solar plus battery are aware of the difference between a grid-tied inverter and a grid-forming inverter?

I suspect it's a very small percentage...

3 hours ago, PetrolDave said:

I wonder how many homeowners with solar plus battery are aware of the difference between a grid-tied inverter and a grid-forming inverter?

I suspect it's a very small percentage...

As with all technology stuff, unless explicitly stated it is probably not supported. Do most people expect to have features they haven't paid for?

Many battery system have a EPS sockets. "Emergency Power Supply". Essentially they lack the gateway and only energise the EPS sockets during power cut. Still useful to keep the essentials on.

9 minutes ago, wyx087 said:

As with all technology stuff, unless explicitly stated it is probably not supported. Do most people expect to have features they haven't paid for?

My point is that most people will assume that their solar/battery system will provide backup power to their whole house during a power cut - it's a reasonable assumption for a non-technical person to make (battery plus a "magic box" that connects to the mains).

So they won't even have asked if their inverter is grid-tied or grid-forming - and the quotes they received when having their system installed are unlikely to have mentioned any restrictions during a power cut, the quotes I've just received certainly made no mention of it and neither did those received by either of my brothers (we're all retired electrical/electronic engineers).

The keywords grid forming/grid-tied are extra detail, it's not something any consumer need to know.

All they need to ask is whether the quoted battery system allows their home to work during a power cut. It's a simple straightforward question for quotation. Or in engineering terms, a requirement.

Not paying for this extra feature means one doesn't get this feature. Seems exceptionally simple.

Not specifying a requirement and thus not getting the additional feature is standard practice in any industry.

1 minute ago, wyx087 said:

All they need to ask is whether the quoted battery system allows their home to work during a power cut. It's a simple straightforward question for quotation. Or in engineering terms, a requirement.

As I posted, and which you seem to have ignored, for the layman (at least all the ones I've spoken to who do not have an engineering background, including 2 of my brothers-in-law who are retired head teachers) they assume a system with a battery and an inverter will supply their home during a power cut - so they won't even think about asking the question.

You're making the classic mistake of an "expert", failing to understand the thinking of a "Joe/Joanne Public".