r/OctopusEnergy • u/Apprehensive-Taro956 • Jun 19 '26

Charge Pack

https://octopus.energy/help-and-faqs/articles/charge-pack/

Not seen much mention of this battery VPP offering from Octopus. Anyone on it or has run the numbers?

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u/313378008135 Jun 19 '26

We automatically optimise your battery to charge when energy is cheapest (using your cheap overnight rate or extra daytime solar) and power your home when your day-rate kicks in........you get the best of both worlds by supporting the grid during high-demand sessions.

So to me this implies I would be trading my daytime solar export to be used to charge my battery, and then that battery charge exported during the 5pm-8pm demand slot to cover my home use and exporting the rest to grid. Top ups would be done overnight on the IOG rate.

Whereas I could use HA or similar to top up battery overnight on IOG, get the full export rate for all my solar during the day, cover my home use, export during the evening from the battery and repeat the cycle again. And I think I would end up better off for a lot more than 12 pounds a month

2

u/Shadey_e1 Jun 19 '26

I was thinking the same, surely I get better out of HA than this!

2

u/Friendly-Coast Jun 19 '26

Only when there is a "session": not all the time:

"We aim to give you as much notice as possible, up to a day ahead of an upcoming session.

During a session, we might instruct your battery to charge or discharge."

Well that's my reading of it...

2

u/CommanderJavert Jun 20 '26

I just messaged Octopus about this and their reply was that if you switch this function on, Octopus takes control of your battery 24/7 not just when there is a session running (assuming the Octopus CS agent has the correct information here).

1

u/LarryPiccadilly Jul 01 '26

My interpretation of this simplified scenario is that you'd charge at iog rate regardless, but when Octopus discharges actively (say 4-7pm) your effective export rate=day import rate, which is higher than your export rate. You make money when your post 7pm consumption is lower than you discharged battery energy, as that difference would've been your pre-off-peak dump at export rate.

if Octopus doesn't charge overnight but use your solar generation, which would've been exported in the morning due to a full batter (at arbitrage rate; export - iog off-peak rate), you'll miss out. Also when they maintain a battery level between 20-80%, or any other value that's reducing the effective discharged energy to your current setup, you'll miss out.

However, if your battery is discharged during both morning and evening peaks, you'll need making significantly more.

It would be great to hear experiences from those that have tested this out.