Interesting timing.  I like octopus but could be cynical and say they are late to the party so announcing it now with sparse detail for roll out next year (when?), in the hope of stopping people buying plug in batteries from those already ready to supply 

@jamespa you’re probably right that there’s an element of flag planting here. Announce now, ship whenever you’re ready and hope the headlines do enough to make people pause before buying elsewhere. 

Which brings me to something worth watching… Indevolt, who we’ve spoken about quite a bit on the forums, are coming out with a newer plug-in offering for the UK that on paper looks ‘better’ in terms of size than what Octopus has announced for the Nook Cube. Pricing, however, will be the deciding factor for most people, and we don’t have firm numbers from either side yet.

On price more broadly, the Colossus claim of roughly half the cost of a Tesla Powerwall sounds bold. Octopus haven’t even published a basic spec sheet or a price list.

What many suspect is that these batteries will be tied to Octopus tariffs to unlock the intelligence features that make the payback numbers stack up. That hasn’t been confirmed officially but it would be commercially illogical for it to work any other way… the whole optimisation pitch sounds like it’s built around their tariff data.

Your question about compatibility with existing systems is a good one, @tim441. No detail on that either. Frankly, it’s an announcement with no real substance behind it.

The current consultation for preliminary product specs plug in solar expressly doesn't include batteries BTW.  So it looks like we won't get fully legal plug in batteries for a while yet.

From what I csn see/guess

1. Yes, you can move elec supplier but will lose the smart features
2. Will be interesting to see see what app or other controls one has if non-Octopus 
3. With Octopus it appears they will fully control import & export

• Of course this will not provide emergency power supply in itself without some sort of gateway.
• To me EPS is a key requirement 
• Will be interesting to see if Nook can supply power into home alongside say Tesla Powerwall & Gateway? i.e. add cheap expansion?

I'm not sure legislation currently allows for plug-in batteries in the UK, at least to be used in this manner, and the current draft legislation for plug-in solar doesn't currently include batteries either unless I'm missing something obvious (happy to be corrected)?

Current plug-in battery systems seem designed to be plugged in to the mains to charge up (as an alternative to connecting solar panels), but then have 3-pin outlet sockets to discharge, so do not discharge back to the grid (or ring main into which they are plugged into).

Octopus do reference "Millions of households across Europe" in their announcement, so maybe they envisage rolling out across Europe first whilst lobbying the UK government to include battery systems in the final UK legislation?

Posted by: @editor

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On price more broadly, the Colossus claim of roughly half the cost of a Tesla Powerwall sounds bold. Octopus haven’t even published a basic spec sheet or a price list.

I'd say the key question will be whether Octopus with its own installer network, can get the cost of the on-site installation down to make batteries more attractive. There's already lots of different makes/models available and prices for the hardware are already pretty reasonable, but many of the installed prices you see advertised look really inflated for the work involved.

@temperature_gradient isn't it supposed to be plug n play via 13A socket?

Max charge/discharge 3kw?

Posted by: @tim441

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@temperature_gradient isn't it supposed to be plug n play via 13A socket?

Max charge/discharge 3kw?

Octopus are launching two batteries - the Nook Cube, which is confirmed as plugin, but what the power input/output will be I don't know, the power ratings being discussed for plug-in solar inverters are ~800W.

The Nook Collossus is the bigger, wall-mounted battery. It's not mentioned that this one is plug-in, I see the announcement refers to this being for 'homeowners' so I'd assumed it would be hardwired like similar products on the market.

Posted by: @temperature_gradient

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Posted by: @tim441

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@temperature_gradient isn't it supposed to be plug n play via 13A socket?

Max charge/discharge 3kw?

Octopus are launching two batteries - the Nook Cube, which is confirmed as plugin, but what the power input/output will be I don't know, the power ratings being discussed for plug-in solar inverters are ~800W.

Yes, it's not clear. For the 2kW plug and play modules, 800W export rate is reasonable as it allows the battery to fully discharge in a 3h peak rate window, supporting the grid as Octopus intends.

But they say they are stackable with 5 units giving 10kW capacity. Obviously a 10kW stacked plug-in system limited to 800W export is far less appealing and would be unable to discharge during the peak rate window to maximise returns, but may be better placed to shift grid import on a ToU tariff for the flat owner

I do not see any indication that a plug-in system will get approval for anything above 800W export at present, and that's if they even add battery systems onto the current draft plug-in solar legislation.

just supplement or replace

According to multiple sources these are FoxESS batteries with an Octopus sticker on them. Nothing new to see except the rather putrid colour choice.

The current consultation does ask if it should be 800W or 800W per circuit, oddly the EU norm of 800W per phase isn't mentioned.

Posted by: @old_scientist

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But they say they are stackable with 5 units giving 10kW capacity. Obviously a 10kW stacked plug-in system limited to 800W export is far less appealing and would be unable to discharge during the peak rate window to maximise returns, but may be better placed to shift grid import on a ToU tariff for the flat owner

Pretty good for a heat pump during winter though.  Charge at cheap rate, discharge to reduce peak rate imports.

Posted by: @etchedpixels

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The current consultation does ask if it should be 800W or 800W per circuit, oddly the EU norm of 800W per phase isn't mentioned.

 

Three phase is pretty rare in domestic here, probably thats why.