A homeowner is told he will be paid for the electricity he does not use. He pictures a meaningful income and it shapes how he thinks about the whole investment.
The export rate is a small fraction of what he pays to buy electricity. His system exports well over half of what it generates because the house is empty during the day.
The system is fine. The expectation was set by a sentence about selling electricity back, and nobody put the two rates side by side.
1. State both rates together
What you pay to buy and what you receive to export. Seen side by side, the whole economics of self consumption become obvious in one line.
2. Explain why self consumption is worth more
A unit used avoids the full purchase price. A unit exported earns the export rate. The difference is usually several times over and it drives every other decision.
3. Explain what determines the export proportion
Occupancy during the day, when appliances run and whether there is storage. A house empty from eight until six will export most of its summer generation.
4. Explain how export is measured
Metering arrangements, what is required and what happens where a household cannot be metered properly. This affects whether anybody is paid at all.
5. Explain that rates vary between suppliers
Substantially, and that switching is possible. Householders assume there is one rate and frequently stay on a poor one for years.
6. Explain the import rate interaction
A high export rate on a tariff with an expensive import rate can be worse overall. The two must be assessed together rather than compared separately.
7. Explain the time of use options
Where tariffs pay more for export at certain times or charge less to import overnight, which changes the arithmetic considerably for some households.
8. Explain what a battery does to export
It converts exported units into self consumed units, which is where its value comes from, and that is the ground in battery storage questions solar buyers ask.
9. Explain the shifting that costs nothing
Running appliances during generation hours. Free, immediately available and the single most effective thing a household can do to improve the return.
10. Do not present export as an income
It is a modest offset. Presenting it as selling electricity back sets an expectation the arithmetic will not meet.
11. Explain the registration process
Who registers the installation, what the supplier needs and how long before payments begin. Households are frequently surprised that this takes a while.
12. Explain what happens on moving house
Whether the arrangement transfers, what the new occupier needs to do and what the seller should hand over.
13. Keep it consistent with the payback conversation
The export rate is one input into a larger calculation, which is the arithmetic in payback and savings questions owners cannot calculate.
14. Answer the export question honestly at the enquiry
An assistant that states both rates, explains why self consumption is worth more, asks about daytime occupancy and sets a realistic expectation produces a customer who is pleased rather than one who expected an income. Handled with the care set out in how to handle sensitive questions in your chatbot where somebody is making a large financial decision, and the same funding clarity appears in funding and payment questions for bootcamps. See pricing, run the numbers on the chatbot ROI calculator, and the sector view sits under solar installers.