Electricity sharing: using your own generation across multiple sites

Solar PV can serve more than the building where it is installed. Through electricity sharing, customers can allocate generation they cannot use at the time to demand at other participating metered sites. This gives businesses with several premises another way to use their own power.

How electricity sharing works

Sharing over the public distribution network uses meter data for electricity exported by the generator and imported at other sites. OKTE’s Energy Data Centre processes the data for each registered sharing group. The results are reflected in electricity supply bills.

Timing is crucial. Generation and consumption are assessed in 15-minute intervals.

Sharing alone cannot move electricity from midday to evening or from summer to winter. Power available for sharing and demand to which it can be allocated must both exist within the same interval.

Where sharing can help a business

Consider a company with a warehouse and a separate office building. The warehouse roof is suitable for solar PV, but demand is low during part of the day. The offices use power at the same time. Subject to the applicable conditions, some of the warehouse’s surplus can be credited against the offices’ electricity use.

This is an illustrative example. For an actual project, compare the metered demand and generation profiles of all participating sites. Sharing works best when available generation coincides with demand elsewhere in the group.

What changes on the bill?

Sharing can reduce the cost of the electricity itself, known as the commodity charge. Distribution and other network charges do not automatically disappear, because sharing between separately metered sites still uses the public network.

Include administration fees and any additional metering costs in the financial assessment. Compare sharing with selling surplus electricity as well as with the final retail price.

What you need before joining

Participating import and export points need interval metering. The group must include a generator or electricity storage facility, and the necessary registrations, contracts and consents must be in place.

According to OKTE, the sites can use different suppliers and need not be close together, but they must be in Slovakia. Individual commercial services may have narrower eligibility criteria. Distinguish the general sharing arrangements from the terms of the product you choose.

Managing the sharing group is a separate service

Installing solar PV and administering a sharing group are separate tasks. The group administrator handles registration, enrols members, sets the allocation method and manages the associated communications.

Agree in advance who will supply and operate the installation and who will administer sharing. Customers should know what each service covers and what they are paying for.

Start with the right generating system

BK designs and installs solar PV, storage and energy management systems. When planning a plant, we can take account of how you intend to use generation across your wider portfolio. Sharing itself requires additional contractual and administrative arrangements.

Do you operate several sites and want to generate your own electricity? Get in touch. We’ll design the system around your demand and how you plan to use the power.