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Cardew

tiredandtested wrote: »

for the 1200 units generated from the end of April to the middle of August. Plus I get to use the 1200 units so save myself another £ 130ish .

Welcome to the forum.

The meter going backwards is technically illegal and you should get your meter changed.

and you pay around 11p/kWh for tier 2 electricity?

tiredandtested

Thanks
My 11p figure was off the top of my head I know its definitely more.
The system was installed by someone with all the certificates (it has to be for FIT payment approval) and I've seen the meter doing the same on another installation.

Cardew

tiredandtested wrote: »

Thanks

The system was installed by someone with all the certificates (it has to be for FIT payment approval) and I've seen the meter doing the same on another installation.

Yes there is no doubt that some of the old meters will run backwards - the new digital meters won't; and soon we should all have 'smart meters'.

You obviously should inform the electricity company;) however I wonder how many do?

tiredandtested

I've had a quick scan of the small print on the contract for FIT payments and cannot find any reference to the need for a digital meter. So, I know ignorance is no defence, but I'm not sure even the power companies are aware of the anomaly. I think I'll act dumb for the present but thanks for the warning.

grahamc2003

Hi Tired, When the meter goes backwards (I assume you look at the disc), have you seen the actual meter readings going backwards? I ask because many years ago, the old style meters were changed so as not to register when the meter is being driven backwards (which until recently, was only due to people fiddling the electricity company). Although that was obviously illegal, I'm not sure whether a solar system driving the meter backwards is illegal - you'd certainly expect a registered installer to leave you with a legal system.

The suppliers have an obligation to replace a certain number of meters every year, so make the most of your meter while it lasts! (assuming it actually is pulling the digits backwards)

tiredandtested

That had occurred to me a little while ago so I sat in front of it during a sunny spell just to check that the digits and little clock hands were reversing as well as the little wheel. Sure enough they were.
You can imagine the pleasure derived from such a harmless pastime!

Cardew

It was the old dial type that reversed.

Obviously you hadn't noticed it running backwards or you would have notified them immediately!!!

EnergyInsider_2

Hi all, I have to admit to not having read the whole thread (50 pages - jeez) but dropping in on a few of the pages has confused me. My need is to understand wether it will make a real dent in my £150.00 a month energy bill. I assume I can offset some gas usage by using some form of electric heating and hot water storage?

Could we perhaps precis this thread info, especially hard fact info from those who have had systems installed.
I'll start it off if thats Ok then please feel free to add to it. I suggest we please keep to the known facts, if there are sources of verifyable independant data please quote them. If I'm wrong about what I post please put me right.


1/ Worthwhile savings / earnings depend on having a big enough roof installation space which is facing predominantly south and clear of trees or other obstructions

2/ It may be better to pay for the panels and take the FIP instead of having a free install and assigning the FIP to the installer. This will depend on how much over capacity the system has (system production compared to your usage.)

3/ You will still need to buy electricty for night time and early morning use and I guess these systems are unlikely to supply all of the electric used by cookers, hobs and kettles.

4/ Home Heating will be a juggling act??? keep gas or other existing system for early / late use and use electric when conditions are right (possibly a comeback for storage rads so you can open them up early morning and evenings?) How the heck is all this going to be controlled - I am sure control system are / will be available but I have trouble getting my head around whats needed.

5/ FIT may change soon which will muck up any present calculations.

6/ Do the quoted savings include FIT or, given that your system worked well would you earn enough from the FIT to pay for your conventional grid supplied usage

EnergyInsider_2

tiredandtested wrote: »

That had occurred to me a little while ago so I sat in front of it during a sunny spell just to check that the digits and little clock hands were reversing as well as the little wheel. Sure enough they were.
You can imagine the pleasure derived from such a harmless pastime!

Is there a separate meter to independantly show how much you feed back?

As for watching the meter run backwards - I could do that all day :rotfl:

Cardew

EnergyInsider,

You are concentrating too much on the value of the energy used in your house. The FIT is where the money is made. With the largest system of 4kWp you can expect to get approx £1,400 from FIT £50 from exported electricity and £100 from electricity used in house. All figures very approximate but will be in the proportion.

You can have a separate meter to monitor exported electricity - most don't. You are allowed to claim 50% of what you generate at 3p/kwh So if you generate 3,000kWh pa you get £45 .

Without going into the technicalities it is impossible to match your panel output to your consumption. Also you can completely forget about heating from the panels. The only time you will get enough power to think about heating is mid summer around noon, when you don't need heating. If you switch on say an immersion heater, the output can drop below 1kW when a cloud comes over and you will be paying for your electricity to heat the other 2kW! The best thing is to reckon you will save around £100 a year from your bill.