Solar panels

d38nog

Hi I hope you can help, I had solar panels fitted with a shade greener last year and everything seems to be fine. That is apart from showing a big credit on our bills (excellent) until Scottish power my energy supplier tell me they will have to replace our meter because our solar panels are making the meter go backwards? therefore they will have to estimate how much energy I have used in relation to the energy the panels have fed into the system. The deal with the solar panels is a shade greener get the bulk of the feed and we get free energy whilst the panels are in use during daylight hours, therefore we change our energy habits to make use of this. I would love your views on this. We are in the process of buying another house so need to get this resolved. Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,
Dean

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

In the 'Green and Ethical' section of this MSE forum there are literally thousands of posts on all aspects of solar panels and your question has been addressed many times.

You should post your query there to get the latest position.

However in general, your agreement with A Shade Greener allows you to use any electricity you generate, but if you have a meter that runs backwards you will have to repay the electricity company an estimate of their loss

Ectophile

You're not supposed to have a meter that runs backwards, as the price you get paid for electricity exported is a lot less than you pay for what you use. With the two mixed up, it's impossible to calculate the correct bill.

Ideally, you'd have a meter that measures both export and import, but they are as rare as hens' teeth at the moment.

Alternatively, if you get a modern meter that won't go backwards, then they will still know how much you've imported, and they can bill you correctly. The export is then estimated.

But if someone else is collecting those export payment, then it makes no difference to you whether the export is measured or not.

Cardew

Ectophile wrote: »

You're not supposed to have a meter that runs backwards, as the price you get paid for electricity exported is a lot less than you pay for what you use. .

The OP has a 'Rent a Roof' system, so doesn't get paid for any exported electricity - A Shade Greener gets all the income from the panels.

So with a meter running backwards every kWh(unit) it turns back the meter is a direct loss to the electricity company and
lowers the occupant's bill. Therefore the company needs to be compensated.

For instance in some summer months the meter reading at the end of the month,(say 31st July) could be lower than the meter reading at the beginning of the that month(01 July). Presumably this is why the OP has been getting a 'big credit' on his bills, and appears to think that is in order.

antteepee

When we had solar panels fitted 3 years ago, fortunately we still had our hot water tank so we still had the immersion heater in it. Therefore when they installed the panels, they were able to connect one of them to the immersion which in effect gives us free hot water. We have never not had any hot water even on dull days in winter. So pleased we were not able to afford to have had it taken out when we were urged to get a more modern gas boiler.