How to read solar FiT meter (Landis+Gyr E470)

[Deleted User]

@Diyanta

SMETS meters can meter/record both imported and exported electricity. Putting that to one side for a moment, the PV solar Feed in Tariff Scheme (now closed to new entrants) pays an agreed tariff price for each kWh generated: hence, the need for a solar generation meter. The scheme also pays for each kWh exported. To keep things simple, the Government agreed to base export payments on 50% of the electricity generated. 

All that said, most non EV households struggle to use more than 25% of the electricity that their array generates. It follows that 75% goes to the Grid. Suppliers now offer what is known as as a Special Export Guarantee (SEG) payment which can range from not a lot to 40p/kWh for each kWh exported. PV owners need to sit down and calculate whether 100% of what they could export under SEG would give a better return than 50% deemed export. It is possible to switch between SEG and deemed export once every 12 months. This decision relates to the export element only: the consumer still gets a FIT payment for each kWh generated.

To get SEG, the supplier uses the export side of the SMETS meter to record the amount of electricity exported to the Grid. Before SEG is paid, the supplier will apply for an export MPAN: that is, one meter two MPANs. It is possible with two MPANs to have, say, Octopus as the import supplier and, say, SO Energy as the SEG payer.

For new PV solar owners who cannot get FIT, SEG payments are the only way of getting a financial return on exported electricity.

PS I think that Act Imp V stands for Actual Import Value but each meter manufacturer uses its own terminology. A SMETS meter has 4 separate import registers each capable of recording usage in 48 by 30 minute daily chunks.

Diyanta

@[Deleted User] Thanks for the great explanation!  I will look into that.  Hopefully I can get the meter to readout the export value at the next visit.

I found the meter manuals, although they are a bit vague on actually how to operate the meter. Nonetheless these might be useful to anyone stumbling across this thread in a search:

Landis_Gyr_E470_Series_3_Manual.pdf 

D000058620 E470 Series3 SMETS2 User Manual and Functional Description ISSUE 1_2.pdf