in Val-d’Oise, a house transformed into a “mini-power plant” to save money

The electricity supplier Octopus Energy has launched a program which allows you to have a zero euro bill, but four conditions must be met.

What if you no longer had any electricity bills to pay for five years? This is the commitment made by Octopus Energy. The electricity supplier has just launched its program in France called “Zero Bills Homes”, which already exists in the United Kingdom, in particular. It involves transforming your house into a small power station, with solar panels and a battery.

The first house in this program is located in Bessancourt, in Val-d’Oise. It’s a pretty house, brand new, among others still under construction. Samy, 42, has lived here for a year, with his wife and their three children. “It’s a comfortable house, we have 140 m2, we have a large open living room, a heated floor”, he describes.

And a surprising electricity bill. “That’s my Octopus Energy bill, which is zero euros, rejoices the forty-year-old. It’s pretty to see. My bill is simple, it went from around 150 euros maximum to zero euros per month. I don’t think we can do better.”

“Since we have a little more purchasing power, we can afford to do something extra during the month: a restaurant, a cinema with the children. It’s surprising but it’s true.”

Sammy, 42 years old

at franceinfo

These zero euro bills, guaranteed for five years, are possible thanks to four elements. First, the house is well insulated and heated with an efficient heat pump. It has recently also been equipped with solar panels on the roof and a battery in the garage. “It’s a white block with lights that indicate the charge level”, Samy specifies. The block is about the height of a washing machine. “It may seem amazing to see a small block like that, but it really powers the whole house for easily a day.” A high white box is “the brain, he adds. This is what allows the panels and the battery to be controlled directly by Octopus, I don’t manage anything at all.”

For this first house, pilot of the program, the supplier Octopus Energy financed the solar panels and the battery. For the next ones, customers will have to take charge of the investment, so there is a calculation to be made to be sure of being a winner in the long term. Obviously, the energy company is also there. “The money does not come from the client, but from the assets he owns, explains Lancelot d’Hauthuille, general manager of Octopus Energy France. The idea is that the battery takes energy from the solar panels and, when there is not enough production, we will take the energy at the right time. We will draw less on the network when it is under high tension, at 5 or 6 p.m., when there is peak consumption. On the contrary, this is where we will potentially drain our battery.”

“And we sell energy at a time when it is expensive, that’s what means that there is a balance in total which allows us to guarantee this bill at zero euros.”

Lancelot d’Hauthuille, general manager of Octopus Energy France

at franceinfo

Octopus Energy wishes to form partnerships with real estate developers to equip several thousand houses in France in the coming years. The company is advocating for this model of electricity-producing house to become the standard in new construction.