"Don't use electricity during Solar Eclipse"
Discussion
That's according to Octopus energy:
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/electricity-sol...
Is this the first hint of weather-based rationing of domestic energy? Zero-wind December evenings next?
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/electricity-sol...
Is this the first hint of weather-based rationing of domestic energy? Zero-wind December evenings next?
What octopus actually said: https://octopus.energy/eclipse/
Sounds like marketing rather than a genuine concern.
Sounds like marketing rather than a genuine concern.
DaveCWK said:
That's according to Octopus energy:
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/electricity-sol...
Given that it's not true, you should probably edit this. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/electricity-sol...
Sporky said:
Given that it's not true, you should probably edit this.
Explain what you mean by 'it's not true"?Here is an article on the Guardian if that's more to your tastes. It says the exact same thing lol:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/aug/10/o...
DaveCWK said:
Explain what you mean by 'it's not true"?
Here is an article on the Guardian if that's more to your tastes. It says the exact same thing lol:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/aug/10/o...
Octopus have not said "Don't use electricity during Solar Eclipse" (your thread title).Here is an article on the Guardian if that's more to your tastes. It says the exact same thing lol:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/aug/10/o...
They've asked customers to use less, in exchange for free electricity at the weekend.
Sporky said:
Octopus have not said "Don't use electricity during Solar Eclipse" (your thread title).
They've asked customers to use less, in exchange for free electricity at the weekend.
Octopus often have this sort of arrangement that you can opt in to, and get rewarded for participating in.They've asked customers to use less, in exchange for free electricity at the weekend.
Sporky said:
DaveCWK said:
Explain what you mean by 'it's not true"?
Here is an article on the Guardian if that's more to your tastes. It says the exact same thing lol:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/aug/10/o...
Octopus have not said "Don't use electricity during Solar Eclipse" (your thread title).Here is an article on the Guardian if that's more to your tastes. It says the exact same thing lol:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/aug/10/o...
They've asked customers to use less, in exchange for free electricity at the weekend.
Zed Ed said:
Is there a lot of solar generation at 6-8pm, with visibly lower sun and day length at this point in August?
No, it's rapidly tailed off. My system which is generating 8-9kW around noon is doing about 1kW at 1830 and nothing just after 1900, based on today's cloudless figures.There will still be a rapid curtailing of whatever solar remains on the grid which if only 1-2GW is still significant enough.
All Octopus are doing is incentivising demand flexibility for people who have the infrastructure and/or dynamic tariff access and motivation to change their import patterns accordingly. It's a melodramatic and fatalistic framing designed for people who now obsess about energy market trades as signs of national decline instead of just getting on with their lives in blissful ignorance.
Sport_Turismo_GTS said:
Sporky said:
Octopus have not said "Don't use electricity during Solar Eclipse" (your thread title).
They've asked customers to use less, in exchange for free electricity at the weekend.
Octopus often have this sort of arrangement that you can opt in to, and get rewarded for participating in.They've asked customers to use less, in exchange for free electricity at the weekend.
Octopus said:
When the sun goes off grid, we want you to do the same
When the moon covers the sun, a huge chunk of Britain's solar power will be knocked out – just as millions of people are getting home and electricity demand spikes.
To help take the strain off the grid, we're asking Octopus customers to use less electricity during the eclipse, and instead, head outside to enjoy this one-off celestial spectacle.
It would appear to be network resilience which is the problem and Octopus are trying to shift demand. If not enough people voluntarily take up the offer they may end up taking it up involuntarily. But then again, this wouldn't be a problem if you weren't so dependent on photovoltaic for electricity generation. The sensible thing might be to curtail PV and crank up the baseload generation leading up to the eclipse but that's seemingly not an option somehow....When the moon covers the sun, a huge chunk of Britain's solar power will be knocked out – just as millions of people are getting home and electricity demand spikes.
To help take the strain off the grid, we're asking Octopus customers to use less electricity during the eclipse, and instead, head outside to enjoy this one-off celestial spectacle.
The content output droids over at the two media outlets quoted somehow think it's a bit more serious and have ladled a dose of hyperbole into their word-soup as they deem appropriate.
So the question is - is it all a bit of a lark and "wE LovE oUr CuStoMers YaY fRee STuff!!" is what it all is? Or is the network going to start tripping balls in a bad bad way like a bad batch of acid let loose at a Phish concert?
It's a marketing gimmick as a lot have solar and those will be running off battery power at that point anyway.
With sunset around 8:30 now, we see a huge drop off in generation from 6pm anyway, so the effect on the grid is minimal, because any generated usually goes to the home use anyway.
With sunset around 8:30 now, we see a huge drop off in generation from 6pm anyway, so the effect on the grid is minimal, because any generated usually goes to the home use anyway.
DaveCWK said:
My thread title is taken directly from the first linked article. I think it's valid. And I think it accurately represents the underlying reasons/concern.
Blindly trusting the media, without a degree of critical thinking....then applying your own ignorance before sharing it onwards... 
The article you posted is twisting the marketing, to add a degree of fear and scaremongering to grab cheap clicks.
It's how a smart grid works, when there is more of power those on smart tariffs pay less, when there is reductions they pay more. Those on standard tariffs pay above average all the time so the power companies can manage the balance behind the scenes.
Octopus have been offering this for several years now, and loads of others are jumping in as well. It incentivises smart use of power to avoid the "more power is the answer" default which is hugely expensive and wasteful.
They are using this solar eclipse as a marketing push, as they recognise it will be a short drop in capacity, and surge in demand, before it resets.
Look up the half hourly market price of electricity to visualise how it works behind the scenes.
My overall spend a averages 15p/kWh by taking advantage of this, and that's without a battery.
Edited by Andeh1 on Wednesday 12th August 07:14
DaveCWK said:
My thread title is taken directly from the first linked article. I think it's valid. And I think it accurately represents the underlying reasons/concern.
Here's what you wrote. "Don't use electricity during Solar Eclipse"
"That's according to Octopus energy"
You claimed in your first post that the title of the thread is a quote from Octopus. It is not. You are spreading misinformation.
vikingaero said:
Just because Octopus have said don't, I will, just to be an arse.
(It's just to market their stupid energy saving scheme and for that they can FRO.)
Why is it a stupid scheme?(It's just to market their stupid energy saving scheme and for that they can FRO.)
It helps balance load vs generation and gives a very small reward back to consumers for making a small effort doing stuff like putting the washing machine on early or late.
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