DIY ESS - Energy Provider statement shows inverted low & high rate usage for October and December between 2012 & 2013

I have been charging (Forced Charge Mode on my ESS) at night for several months now since there is less Solar Production in winter. 

My last energy bill shows that, compared to last year october to december period, I inverted the usage in low rate and high rate

From Oct to Dec 2012 :  (no Solar and no ESS)

  ->   700 kWh used at night rate (half price)

  -> 1002 kWh used during the day 

From Oct to Dec 2013 : (Solar and ESS with Forced Charge Mode at Night 10:30 PM to 6:30 AM))

  -> 1021 kWh used at night rate (half price)

  ->   734 kWh used during the day

The funny thing is that the amount paid is more or less the same because price per kWh is rising, always ...


For more info on my DIY ESS, check out this other dedicated blog : http://www.diyesskit.com

Winter: Charging during the night, using the Stored Energy from the ESSand Solar during the day

Winter: Charging during the night - off peak rate TOU -, and using the Stored Energy from the ESS and Solar during the day to shave peaks and compensate home usage as much as possible 

DIY ESS - First Full Night of Forced Charge Mode and the next day

After moving the ESS, now in the living room, we were ready to use the Forced Charge Mode all night long for the first time

Right after a good movie with the kids



Nikita: Always good to watch a good Luc Besson movie

At 10:30PM, when the low rate period starts, I just pushed the Control Board pushbutton for 4 seconds and the ESS went into Forced Charge Mode, switching all the Chargers on 

As you can see on the graph, after the water heater is done, only the ESS is on and using around 500W and was shut down at 6:30AM, end of the low rate period, using a regular AC timer, as the battery pack was almost full, its voltage showing 26.7V

Sunday morning, with a full pack the ESS helped a lot with the heating (Daikin heat pump),  breakfast, etc all along the morning and some lunch

This is the overview at the end of the day: We covered quite a bit of our Usage with the ESS and the Solar (sunny day for once)

And tonight, I will switch the ESS to Forced Charge Mode again ... in one hour exactly, before going to bed