BG FIT audit - PV owner in a pickle?

[SolarRoofSols]

Taken a call from a guy who had an install in April 2011. He has had an email from BG asking him to clarify his TIC/DNC, including make and model of panels.

His MCS cert says DNC at 4kw but he has 18 x 220w (he thinks) panels making 3.96kWp, with an SMA 3800 inverter which is limits the output to 3.8kW.

The guy went back to BG to say he had 3.96kW and they have batted back to him that his TIC cannot be greater than his DNC (4kW on the MCS cert) and to go back to his installer to rectify, but they seem to have gone bust.

"You have given TIC 3.96kw but on the MCS certificate it is showing 4kw
so it can not be possible that TIC may be greater than DNC so kindly
rectify it by contacting your installer directly."

They are witholding his FIT payments until resolved and he is looking for some help but I don't really know how to advise him.

If I were doing the MCS/FIT application I would have put both the TIC and DNC as 3.8kw as this is the limit on the inverter and keeps it simple. It does raise the alarm bells that there will be more in the woodwork like this!

I have been looking at some of the past threads on here about the subject and I am still stumped. Some have argued that the TIC is the number of panels x their wattage; but given BG's reply to the guy above, this is wrong.

Any ideas folks?

 

[Gavin A]

advise him to contact the ombudsman

 

[SolarCity]

Can he not just claim TIC is 4kWp? That way it would match up with the certificate

- - - Updated - - -

Can he not just claim TIC is 4kWp? That way it would match up with the certificate

 

[Worcester]

Actually TIC would normally be greater than DNC however on PV systems the power consumed by the generator are minimal so in PV terms TIC=DNC.

So what BG are saying "so it can not be possible that TIC may be greater than DNC" is not only wrong, it's a**e about face.

As for what should go on the MCS Certificate see comments elsewhere!

“Total Installed Capacity”
means the maximum capacity at which an Eligible Installation could be operated for a sustained period without causing damage to it (assuming the Eligible Low-carbon Energy Source was available to it without interruption), a declaration of which is submitted as part of the processes of ROO-FIT Accreditation and MCS-certified Registration;

“Declared Net Capacity”
means the maximum capacity at which an installation can be operated for a sustained period without causing damage to it (assuming the source of power used by it to generate electricity was available to it without interruption) less the amount of electricity that is consumed by the Plant;

Although of course you now declare BOTH TIC and DNC on the MCS Certificate as opposed to just DNC, and the MCS guidelines for entering the figures are vague if not confusing to say the least:

Total Installed Capacity
a. Enter the total installed capacity of the installation.
i. Feed in Tariff (FIT) eligible installations (excluding Micro CHP): enter the total installed capacity of the system
ii. All other technology types: enter the same figure in the total installed capacity and declared net capacity field.
b. This information will be printed on the MCS certificate

If you can get your head round the muddle bewteen a.i. and a.ii. then well done!

 

[TedM]

BG have the right logic but their explanation is backwards. It is possible for the TIC to be greater than the DNC but not for it to be less which is what they seem to be complaining about here. i.e. they cannot change the database (OFGEM not MCS) so that the TIC is 3.96 and leave the DNC at 4.00 as the TIC will then be less than the DNC.

The user should just tell BG that the installer is bankrupt and he cannot get a revised MCS cert. Seems like a difference of 40 Watts is enough of an excuse for them to cut off payments. Given that the difference is immaterial (it doesn't change the tariff band) then this seems excessive.

 

[mdovey]

If the OP hasn't mistyped something, and if BG is insisting that the TIC must not be higher than the DNC, the obvious reponse is to reply saying that then TIC is 3.96 which is not higher than the DNC of 4.0 so what is the problem.

As TedM has indicated under the "common sense" understanding of TIC and DNC, then TIC should be larger or equal to DNC. However, there seems to be some confusion about this within OFGEM. In particular, I believe that they (or the energy companies) aren't happy when someone has more than 4KW of panels installed but with the inverter limiting the output to below 4KW (an example might be on an east/west split where you might put 3KW on both sides but into a 4KW inverter on the basis that you will never get full sunlight and hence full output on both sides simultaneously) and registering this with a DNC of below 4KW to get the <4KW FIT tariff. I wouldn't be surprised if BG were trying to crack down on this practice, and someone in BG has just got things mixed up in this case.

Alternatively argue that the TIC and DNC are both 4.0 (rounded to 1 decimal place)!

It does seem churlish - changing the DNC from 3.96 to 4.0 doesn't change the FIT tariff, and the 40w difference is well below the typical panel tolerances!

 

[SolarRoofSols]

Thanks Guys, i have checked the email he sent me from GB and copied it in, so they are saying that TIC can't be more than DNC.

I'm gonna advise him to point this out and see what they say next.

I would be interested to see how it pans out because i've got a feeling that more questions will be asked by FIT providers now that they are twiddling their thumbs with the lack of applications to process, so they'll be auditing.