Solar Panels and Energy Monitor
smartn
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I have recently installed solar panels and it's all working well. I have a question regarding the EON energy monitor I have.
At times when I am producing power the energy monitor does not reduce its reading as much as I would have thought. I can tell how much is being generated by the inverter as it has a display and even at times when the inverter is telling me I'm producing in excess of 1 kWh my EON monitor only appears to drop by a couple of hundred watts. Is there a good reason for this?
At times when I am producing power the energy monitor does not reduce its reading as much as I would have thought. I can tell how much is being generated by the inverter as it has a display and even at times when the inverter is telling me I'm producing in excess of 1 kWh my EON monitor only appears to drop by a couple of hundred watts. Is there a good reason for this?
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I'm sure someone with better experience will be along soon but would it simply be the case that the energy you are using is the same? Check the actual meter to see if it has slowed right down.
E.g:
Solar pv producing 1kW
Using 300w in the house
Meter will show 700W (export)
Or
Solar pv producing 1kW
Using 1.7kW in the house
Meter will still show 700W (import)
on your pv system - free apps on itunes
from solarworld and sma
Hi, I was searching for information on this EON Energy Monitor in conjunction with Solar PV and came across this thread.
We've been using this monitor for almost a year, but we've only had Solar PV installed last week. I've noticed strange high readings on the monitor during sunny periods, so I've concluded that it cannot tell when electricity is being consumed vs when it is being generated - suspecting it's effectively now been rendered useless.
I've not yet been able to confirm this with EON yet.
Mark
It's explained quite well in previous postings (above). The meter will show the power (actually it just measures current but voltage should be constant) going through the wire but has absolutely no way of telling in which direction it's flowing.
That doesn't make it completely useless although it does of course make it a lot less helpful. A similar monitor from 'Wattson' can be wired up to measure generation and usage separately and then display the calculated nett usage (negative when generation exceeds consumption). Afraid you won't get one of them given away by the RECs though ! (Try eBay).
4kWp S Facing 17.5deg slope (dormer roof).
BEV : Nissan Leaf e+
During the day there is no way of knowing if the reading you get is what you are using or exporting. Even comparing to the solar generation at the time doesn't give clues as you have no idea what your actual consumption is at any point in time as explained by the post by Jon Tiffany above
What your monitor registers depends on how your pv system has been wired in and where your sensor is attached so your query is seen many times on this forum, and others ..... Have a look at the exchange of posts from #324 to about #340 on this thread from last year .... (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...y#post43216258)
HTH
Z
In order for a monitor to read both usage and generation you would either need to have separate load and generation tails to position the clamp sensor on or the ability to read consumption directly from the Total Generation & Import meters via optical sensors (or a combination) ..... if it's not possible to use a clamp sensor for the EON monitor to read load or generation then the 'Wattson' clamps would have exactly the same issue.
HTH
Z
It's a question of where you put the clamps. EON no doubt recommend the main cable between meter & CU. My generation clamp is inside the isolator box for the solar panel circuit and the main consumption clamp measures current flowing from non-RCD side of the CU to the RCD side; an additional clamp measures current to the other non-RCD circuits.
4kWp S Facing 17.5deg slope (dormer roof).
BEV : Nissan Leaf e+
I agree, however it makes no difference to the post you referenced ... if you can't place the sensor for the EON unit to read either generation or consumption then you wont be able to place the sensor(s) for the 'Wattson' either, so why buy a 'Wattson' to provide a solution to the issue which the OP describes ...
HTH
Z