solar meter blank?

csh_2

Morning all,
noticed this morning that my solar meter display is blank.
its a elster A100C, i inherited this system with the house and admit to knowing nothing about who owns/maintains what.

Can anyone suggest why the meter is not working and who i would contact about it please?
Thanks for any help

tunnel

You say you inherited it? Care to expand, did it come with a house purchase or passed on from parents. Looking at your signature its for a 2kWp system(is that the same one your talking about?). that size system would say to me its not a RaR scheme so your responsible for any upkeep, maybe worth finding any paperwork out that came with the house/system to see if there's any warranty on the equipment.

csh_2

Thanks for your reply
It came with house purchase. Yes its the same system as in sig.
I will try and get to paperwork but unfortunately its not easily to hand.

whats RaR scheme?

penrhyn

RaR, a rent a roof scheme, whereby a company installs the panels for free, you get to use any electricity they generate, whilst the company collects the Feed in Tariff money.
They are usually 16 panel 4Kwp systems though.

tunnel

RaR is where a company leases your roof, they'll put free panels on for you, you use the electric generated and they collect the FiT. Lease will be for the 20 years or so the FiT is in place.


Do you know what FiT rate you get? May help judging how long the system has been installed

csh_2

ah of course it means rent a roof!
Mine was installed Aug '11 and is on a Fit rate of around 46p (40 something anyway, can't remeber exactly)

tunnel

That would make the meter just under 3yr old, find your paperwork out, it should still be in warranty. Whether the installer is still in business is another question.

csh_2

Ok, thanks. I shall do that and attempt to contact installer.
thanks again

tunnel

As a footnote, when did you last take a meter read? Have you kept up to date readings? I ask because if you require a new meter you may lose your generation from the last meter read although your inverter should have some information on its only the gen meter that counts.


If it was a few months back you could potentially be losing a few hundred quid!!! at least

csh_2

i received a cheque on 4th April from a read done at end if March.
so potentially around 4 weeks lost, i had wondered if there was a back up on the inverter or if I'd just lose out

tunnel

Do you know what type of inverter it is? AFAIK most keep a record of generation, you may have to lie a little in that your a nerd that keeps day to day readings to satisfy your FiTs provider of your generation to date without proof from your gen meter(maybe take a pic with date stamp to back it up). If a new meter is required I'm also pretty certain you'll have to inform your FiTs provider with make and model, date installed and first meter read(usually zero)