Slowness of feed-in-tariff payments

For an individual domestic dwelling if the householder can afford solar and a battery (now and after subsidies end) this is probably the best way of using everything the solar on the roof can generate.

The battery cannot however store all the excess generated in the summer for use in the winter. In X years time after the installation costs are paid for the income from the export may exceed the cost of the import from the grid but it doesn't negate the need for national backup to meet the shortfall when all the solar is producing virtually nothing mid winter.

As for more is better. Is this true for domestic solar? If domestic solar becomes more popular can the wires in the street cope with all the excess generation being fed back into the grid on a nice long bright day? Possibly more importantly can it cope with an imbalance between phases when some properties at random will be charging local batteries while others in the same street will be exporting to the grid.

I think you mean Sizewell C. B has been operating for years. Also 'Hickley' is missing an 'n'. Typos rule!

Yes, but its not justifiable cost wise on any scale, including domestic.

It's only the subsidies that make it seem so..

I think given the amount of electricity forecast to be used the grid will have to be upscaled anyway.

As far as phase imbalance goes, its no different from one bloke charging his EV or growing his cannabis all night on one phase.

The key is 'at random'

Statistically it averages out.

I have no technical objections to domestic solar with batteries. My objection is to paying for it.

Yes, of course. I did mention upthread that I have to import from the grid over 3 or 4 winter months.

At the moment, given the low cost of panels and the low marginal cost of fitting extra, more is better.

But yes, in the future, somebody somewhere is going to have to get their head around it all.

I think EVs have the potential to soak up a fair amount, especially if electricity can be expanded to mass transit and goods transport.

But at worst any excess capacity will just have to be lost.