Would like to get solar panels but can't even get a smart meter

metahome

I'd like to get solar panels installed and decided that I needed to get a smart meter first to understand my daytime/nighttime usage to see if I would need a battery installed as well as the house is occupied most of the day.

Requested a smart meter from my supplier (Bulb) last December. So far, after 8 months, despite various attempts to escalate I don't even have an installation date. Bulb say it is a problem with Siemens who do the installs (I am in Southern UK, near to Reading) and that Siemens don't tell Bulb where customers are in the queue for installation  - Siemens won't talk to me and refer me back to Bulb.

I am wondering if Siemens are putting Bulb customers as low priority due to Bulb being in administration.

I've thought about switching supplier - but I don't know whether that would help or just put me to the back of the smart meter queue.

Can anyone advise what my best way forward would be to get a smart meter fitted? Without a smart meter I guess I can't get panels installed anyway - is that correct?

mickyduck55

My panels were installed in 2011.. no smart meters in those days so you can have panels without a smart meter

70sbudgie

You can get PV without a smart meter, you just can't get a SEG (export tariff). So you might want to take that into account when doing your sums. 

It may also strengthen the case for batteries as you will want to maximise your self usage if you can't earn anything from exporting. 

I would also recommend an immersion diverter if you have a hot water tank.

But you will be dependent on the standard figures for usage and therefore less able to tailor the quotes you get to your particular situation so may find it more difficult to fit the return on investment to your budget.

metahome

70sbudgie said:

But you will be dependent on the standard figures for usage and therefore less able to tailor the quotes you get to your particular situation so may find it more difficult to fit the return on investment to your budget.

That is exactly why I want a smart meter first. Can’t believe that the energy suppliers and installers can be so utterly unhelpful and there seems to be no way to get a reasonable response from either. Totally frustrating.

70sbudgie

I am only going to tentatively suggest swapping supplier as each supplier has their "pet" meter operator. 

Obviously there are major issues with doing this right now and the meter fitting issues may not be limited to the existing meter operator. I don't know how you would find this out in advance.

It depends how keen you are to get a smart meter and solar panels. 

It might also be worth thinking about how much data would really help you decide whether PV is for you. I collected a year of data, but in the end I don't think it made a huge difference to my decision. I could work out my pattern of usage from pretty vague data (I had an economy 7 meter before I went smart). And I changed my habits quite a bit after getting the pv, so my "pre pv" data only had a limited value. 

And the first year of pv, I used the inverter data to decide whether the turn things on in the day. This year, I got out my smart meter display and have refined my self consumption decisions.

Also my export income was only about a third of the cash generated by the panels - total of which was about 6%.

I guess, that what I'm saying is that if you want PV, you shouldn't let the lack of a smart meter hold you back.

You could factor in a year's grace, when the ROI might be a bit lower. I have found that improving my self consumption ratio is quite addictive - I think the "how low can you go" board shows that I'm not the only one. 😉 There are a lot of long time forum members that seem to be continually trying to improve their use of their panels.

EricMears

metahome said:

70sbudgie said:

But you will be dependent on the standard figures for usage and therefore less able to tailor the quotes you get to your particular situation so may find it more difficult to fit the return on investment to your budget.

That is exactly why I want a smart meter first. Can’t believe that the energy suppliers and installers can be so utterly unhelpful and there seems to be no way to get a reasonable response from either. Totally frustrating.

You could of course buy your own 'smart meter' and fit it immediately before the connection(s) to your consumer unit(s).  There are meters available that you can read from your own computer.

gefnew

Something like this would give you an idea of your consumption.
Ega Energy Monitor | eBay