OWL monitor under reading?

Wh05apk

We have just had a 4kw installation, and comparing the Owl monitor to the generation meter, it seems to consistently under read by 10%, is there any way of adjusting this?

Dave_Fowler

Wh05apk wrote: »

We have just had a 4kw installation, and comparing the Owl monitor to the generation meter, it seems to consistently under read by 10%, is there any way of adjusting this?

If you can, check your mains voltage. The Owl may be set to the default 230V and your mains voltage could be 240V (or above - mine is nearer 250V most days).

You are able to adjust your Owl meter settings to correct the nominal voltage. For every 1% increase in the voltage setting you will get a 1% increase in the Owl reading. The Owl purely reads Amps and multiplies this by the voltage reading you have entered to produce a power (or energy as it states on the front panel) display.

Dave F

Wh05apk

Must admit, I did wonder this, it is set at 230, so presumably I could adjust this without measuring the voltage simply to make it tie in with the generation meter?

Just checked readings, and Owl says 8kw, gen meter 7.93kw so far today, so seems more accurate today for some reason?

Dave_Fowler

Wh05apk wrote: »

Must admit, I did wonder this, it is set at 230, so presumably I could adjust this without measuring the voltage simply to make it tie in with the generation meter?

Just checked readings, and Owl says 8kw, gen meter 7.93kw so far today, so seems more accurate today for some reason?

If the Owl meter is just reading the output from the PV inverter, then the current read by the Owl should be a good sine wave and in phase with the voltage. Hence the reading should be quite repeatable and you should be able to adjust the reading to match the generation meter by setting up the appropriate nominal voltage. I think you are limited to 10V steps in the nominal setting. The Owl has a reasonable +/- accuracy specification for currents above 1 Amp. If you find the Owl meter shows a small reading when there is no generation (after dark), then the meter is reading the small reverse current flowing into the inverter when it is 'asleep'. This current is likely to be well out of phase with the voltage and can not be taken as an accurate reading for the inverter's 'sleeping' power.

I find that the mains voltage is higher on good generation days and lower when there is less sunshine. This can probably be accounted for by the increase in power being injected into the system by mine and other people's generation and also less power being taken from the grid for lighting and electric heaters. My mains voltage is currently 247.5V. On May 9th, it peaked at 251.39V. On a cloudy day it can be as low as 244V.

Dave F

Martyn1981

Wh05apk wrote: »

Must admit, I did wonder this, it is set at 230, so presumably I could adjust this without measuring the voltage simply to make it tie in with the generation meter?

Just checked readings, and Owl says 8kw, gen meter 7.93kw so far today, so seems more accurate today for some reason?

Hiya, firstly Dave is the leccy expert, certainly ain't me, but thought of a possible tip for you - have a look at the inverter screen, it may well cycle through info (or have a button that then cycles as you press). One of the bits of info will be DC voltage in and AC voltage out.

It will vary, but should give you a quick indication of your voltage level to set the Owl up.

[Normally mine is around 240V to 244V, but has been higher lately. A few weeks ago it touched the upper limit 253V (230V +10%) and one of my inverters switched off. I was able to confirm all this from the display on my SB2500HF which carried on running.]

Mart.

Wh05apk

Dave, you raised another query I had, when not generating the OWL reports normally 48/64W although sometimes 200+! I had hoped this was just an anomaly which you have confirmed (if it was using that much on standby I wold switch it off over winter!) the spec for the inverter states 8w standby which seems reasonable.

uklad_2

I had the same problems as you until i worked out i had been given a type 1 kit and need the type 2 add-on take i look on the owl web site for more into..