Feed in Tariff meter reading

Green3

I have solar panels and a Landis gyr E110 generation meter. I had submitted FIT reading in July and also received payment after that. But now my meter reading is showing the same reading as in July and the LED light is a constant red ( it is not blinking red). Why has my meter reading not gone up at all in the past few months? Does a constant red LED light mean that meter is not working? So there is no point in submitting the same reading as last time as I will not receive any payment if reading has not increased. Can someone please explain what has happened here? The provider is Scottish power.

System

The obvious question is 'are your panels producing any solar electricity'? There could be a number of reasons why they have failed: most likely it is the inverter. If your panels are producing energy, then your meter has failed. Whatever the situation, you need to talk to your installer. This isn't a Scottish Power problem.

macman

As above, if the inverter is OK then you'll need to get the gen meter replaced and then provide the new details to SP, probably with a letter supplied by whoever installs the new meter.
Gen meter readings are usually requested quarterly, so I'm puzzled as to why you have not read it since June?
Unfortunately this means that you may not get any payment for that period, as it is not possible to verify the kWh production without a meter reading. I had the same issue with EDF, but as the meter failed the day after it was read, I only lost a week's worth of FIT's.
I had the same meter and the LCD failed completely (display lost).

Green3

Contacted installer who said call-out charge just to inspect it would be £120 and if generation meter needed to be changed it would be another £1000 or so. Can I just call an electrician to find out what is wrong ( as it may be cheaper)?

MoggyNinja

As long as he is certified to work on the equipment, so you have peace of mind that he knows what he is doing then yes you can call an electrician, but the company that installed it should send a qualified electrician, as the system is live, and under the competent persons scheme, only a qualified electrician should work on electrical systems, so to be honest, would I call an electrician, or would I call the company that installed it, and knows the system, unless you know of a good reason not to use the installer, I would call them.

Hope this helps

[Deleted User]

Constant red light on the Fit meter ( on a sunny day ) means there is a fault somewhere along the line, not necessarily with the meter. Its a job for a private electrician . I would ve thought its a simple job to rule out the meter itself with a multimeter on the meter imput wires, which would mean snipping the lower cover seal to get at the live and neutral cables. Strictly speaking this should only be done by the local DNO or contractor. When these little cheap Ampy digital meters go faulty they go blank and lose the reading.

[Deleted User]

Sounds like it has just tripped out. Not uncommon for us in high winds etc. There should be a couple for fuse board type trip switches next to the inverter...

Cheers

macman

Switch off the inverter and restart it. Your installer is trying to con you. The cost of the meter is about £50 new (or £25 for a used one) and the labour cost would be for about half an hour's work, so mine charged their basic call out charge of £40. Total cost £92.
There is no such thing as a 'generation meter', it's just a standard L & G meter wired to the inverter output circuit.