I don’t have solar panels, so others can better advise on that part, i do know that those solar users with a battery, often stay on the day/night rate meters, as they can use the much lower night rate, to charge the battery overnight, and then use the battery, to feed the house during the day, when Panels not generating enough, therefore avoiding those higher day time rates.(completely avoiding day rates, in some cases)
I got a day/night meter installed last May, as we have 2 EV’s and a heat pump, i switched mid contract with Electric Ireland, directly after the last Late August price increase. Moved to Energia on September 5th, who had a “fixed” rate(including vat) of :
day rate of 29.80 cent,
night rate of 8.6 cent
Its fixed for 12months.
It all depends on your mix of day and night usage, everyone is different, but we consistently vary between about 55% and 60 % night rate, so the overall average rate now, is under 20c(incl vat), which is significantly less that that most recent EI price increase.(well worth the €50 exit fee) We would only use washing machine, dryer and dishwasher on night rates, and all hot water is heated via heat pump on night rates also. Some behavioural and habit changes are needed, to best use the night rate.
Energia, have increased those rates a few times since, so was lucky to get in, at those rates.
For me, i ran the numbers on the smart meters, and they were horrendously bad value for my particular situation, and noticed they did offer very low rates in the middle of the night, but its very restrictive as it is limited to 2 to 3 hours per night, which means, you won’t be able to fully charge an EV in one charging session. The night meter rate is for a 9 hour duration, summer 12 to 9am, winter 11pm to 8am, every day of the year, and is perfect for EV charging, as it will deliver up to 63kw in one single charging session