Electricity meter going backwards after installing Solar PV

carlhenry

I have a problem with my meter it is an AMPY 2005 digital, I have a 1kw PV system my meter does not appear to allow excess power to the grid (not Bi directional) The house in the morning only uses about 90 watts of power but if it is a sunny day the PV generates more than what is being consumed, the meter cannot go backwards and the excess will not flow back through meter to the grid so it becomes a load.
On a really sunny day my usage increases by about 400watts even though I am only using 90 watts.
I found this out becouse i bought a energy monitor and could not understand what was being turned on in the house to increase the monitor usage until i realised it is the PV as it gets warmer my usage goes UP and not DOWN.

carlhenry

I have a problem with my meter it is an AMPY 2005 digital, I have a 1kw PV system my meter does not appear to allow excess power to the grid (not Bi directional) The house in the morning only uses about 90 watts of power but if it is a sunny day the PV generates more than what is being consumed, the meter cannot go backwards and the excess will not flow back through meter to the grid so it becomes a load.
On a really sunny day my usage increases by about 400watts even though I am only using 90 watts.
I found this out becouse i bought a energy monitor and could not understand what was being turned on in the house to increase the monitor usage until i realised it is the PV as it gets warmer my usage goes UP and not DOWN.

Martini

carlhenry wrote: »

I have a problem with my meter it is an AMPY 2005 digital, I have a 1kw PV system my meter does not appear to allow excess power to the grid (not Bi directional) The house in the morning only uses about 90 watts of power but if it is a sunny day the PV generates more than what is being consumed, the meter cannot go backwards and the excess will not flow back through meter to the grid so it becomes a load.
On a really sunny day my usage increases by about 400watts even though I am only using 90 watts.
I found this out becouse i bought a energy monitor and could not understand what was being turned on in the house to increase the monitor usage until i realised it is the PV as it gets warmer my usage goes UP and not DOWN.

It looks as though your meter does the same as the Siemens meters that are not suitable for exporting! See POST 70 and get it changed quickly!

madfishkeeper

I have just had a 2Kwh system fitted (1 week ago) and yes, my meter goes into reverse when the sun is shining (not often enough).
My supplier is EDF and I informed them shortly before the instalation that I was having solar panels fitted and asked if it would make any difference to my tariff and payments. I changed my tariff to a new one which is fixed with no increase until 2014. So far I have not had a reply.
I am no electrical of mathematical buff, but I would have thought that to have a normal meter which goes 1 way only would be the way to go. The amount of energy produced is shown on the PV meter and the amount used is shown on the suppliers meter. The amount fed back into the grid is the difference between what is supplied (PV) and what is used.
Since the installation, I have informed EDF about the reverse of the meter and so far not had a reply.
As far as I am concerned, I have done my bit and the rest is up to them.

Terrylw1

madfishkeeper wrote: »

I have just had a 2Kwh system fitted (1 week ago) and yes, my meter goes into reverse when the sun is shining (not often enough).
My supplier is EDF and I informed them shortly before the instalation that I was having solar panels fitted and asked if it would make any difference to my tariff and payments. I changed my tariff to a new one which is fixed with no increase until 2014. So far I have not had a reply.
I am no electrical of mathematical buff, but I would have thought that to have a normal meter which goes 1 way only would be the way to go. The amount of energy produced is shown on the PV meter and the amount used is shown on the suppliers meter. The amount fed back into the grid is the difference between what is supplied (PV) and what is used.
Since the installation, I have informed EDF about the reverse of the meter and so far not had a reply.
As far as I am concerned, I have done my bit and the rest is up to them.

The distributor informs the supplier of the sites ability to export as well.

The industry stance is very clear on fitting a backstop meter, so they should have booked that in.

Suggest you watch your FIT payments.

madfishkeeper

EDF made an appointment today for 13th Sept to sort out my meter.
As I understand it now, my FIT payments will be 16p per KWh produced and 4.5p for each unit exported.
I have also today received my paperwork from the panel suppliers so I can now register my panels.

SteveofHants

So we installed in January and ticked the box to say the meter was going backwards. I also sent in monthly meter readings at the end of each month, although I was away for the peak generating period over the summer (May-Sept). Each time I received an email telling me they had updated my account accordingly. Also,several times over the last few months their meter readers have called and asked for another meter reading. My last bill rang alarm bells and I called them to ask why my future monthly payment was so high if I was supposedly several hundred pounds in credit.

They are now due to install a backstop meter in a couple of weeks, but they tell me they intend to read the meter then, and then 6 weeks later, and use this data to determine what my readings should(!) have been. As this will be a high usage, low generation period, I am clearly not impressed by the possible accuracy this proposal.

I feel they have been somewhat negligent in taking 12 months to work out there is a problem when the panels were installed by an installer they recommended, when they have received regular readings and when I am dealing with their own microgeneration team ...

Anyone had the same thing happen and/or understand the optimum (for me obviously) way to come to some sort of agreement ?

Cknocker

I had a similar issue with an electric meter that had stopped working. It took 3 years!!!! for them to change it, purely because it was beyond them to call me when they were coming around. Anyway it was the same agreement - they would read it again in 6 weeks and work it out from that. Lets just say I was pretty frugal with the electric for 6 weeks and it came out they reckoned they owed me £400, as I had kept the DD payments up.

Canveydave

I was forced by BG to have a digital meter fitted (free of charge) as my analogue meter was going backwards. Since the new meter was fitted I seem to be using more electricity than expected so I'm wondering if it is connected properly to the PV system, ie I'm not using any of the electricity I'm generating. Anyone have a similar experience?

derek99b

Canveydave wrote: »

I was forced by BG to have a digital meter fitted (free of charge) as my analogue meter was going backwards. Since the new meter was fitted I seem to be using more electricity than expected so I'm wondering if it is connected properly to the PV system, ie I'm not using any of the electricity I'm generating. Anyone have a similar experience?

Hi
I'm new to this forum and have a concern that some meters fitted do not allow the electricy generated to be exported. But on first look, that is not your problem as you will get paid 3p per unit generated from your generation meter. Thinking ot through more, your generation meter will only advance if electricity is MOVING through it. It must go somewhere!!! So if the mains meter does not allow export, your gereration meter will not advance. You need to set up a simple test. When there is no sunshine, read your mains meter and turn off as much as possible variable consumption (fridges/ freezers especially) in your house, leave that for 1 hour and read again. Perform the same test on a sunny hour, this time read the generation meter before and after. The mains meter should increase by zero, and the generation meter by approximately 90% of your installed capacity. Hope that helps folks.
One more thought.... You can find the make/model of your new meter. The specification must be on the web somewhere. See if it is suitable for PV installations.
Yet another thought. The only way the meter could block export is by switching off the PV route. That would need some quite big switching relays. mre thinking and research needed.