Generation Meter Issues

JSPENCER

Hi Guys - hopefully one of you can help.

Recently moved into a property that has a 4kw solar panel system (18 panels in total), and have inherited the old feed in tariff. The solars are definitely working, as since being switched back on my elec readings have slowed (on a non smart meter), and my Solar iBoost system is heating the hot water.

The issue I have is the generation meter (single phase, one rate) is not moving, it has been stuck on the same reading for the last week. The light on the meter is flashing indicating that the panels are generating electricity. I need to provide these readings to SSE, who have advised they will pay me 50% of the difference between the readings each quarter, at 60p per kWh - this is obviously problematic if the meter isn't moving 

Wondering if anyone has had a similar issue and how they rectified it. The simplest answer is of course 'contact a qualified electrician', but the cheapest I've been quoted so far to check it out is £300, so trying to avoid that if there is a simpler solution

Thanks in advance

paul991

£300 seems  expensive for a ten minute job to change a £50 meter  but  i  think it has to a mcs registered  company to do the work

Heedtheadvice

Before anything else, check your inverter is showing generation -probably a couple of kWs or more mid day in clear sunshine. The generation meter should increase readings by the same as the inverter(approx) for every hour of that generation or multiples of. You will not necessarily see the units increasing for short durations of generation. You might also see kWhours of generation on the inverter and that should be about the same as the count on the meter  best checked over a full day or longer as an increase over the period.

At this time of year for a system of your size that might be anything from zero to say 15kWh per day depending upon weather, panel alignment your location...

If not happy then:

Try more electricians, those that do solar panel system installations and are MCS registered as if the meter needs changing it needs to be done in line with the schemes or you may well loose the right to claim FIT.

Have you tried the original Installer?

Heedtheadvice

and note that all companies paying for FIT generation pay the same amounts depending upon the FIT scheme applicable atvthe time of certification(~installation approx).

If it is a system installed after the FIT scheme ended then it is SEG you can be paid and that is a different matter.

EricMears

paul991 said:

£300 seems  expensive for a ten minute job to change a £50 meter  but  i  think it has to a mcs registered  company to do the work

I'd say 'exorbitant' rather than 'expensive' but it may be that the company that quoted that was not 'local' so might also be charging another couple of hours travelling time each way or of course it might be a "we don't want the job" response.  In either case,  well worth seeking another quote.

JSPENCER

Heedtheadvice said:

Before anything else, check your inverter is showing generation -probably a couple of kWs or more mid day in clear sunshine. The generation meter should increase readings by the same as the inverter(approx) for every hour of that generation or multiples of. You will not necessarily see the units increasing for short durations of generation. You might also see kWhours of generation on the inverter and that should be about the same as the count on the meter  best checked over a full day or longer as an increase over the period.

At this time of year for a system of your size that might be anything from zero to say 15kWh per day depending upon weather, panel alignment your location...

If not happy then:

Try more electricians, those that do solar panel system installations and are MCS registered as if the meter needs changing it needs to be done in line with the schemes or you may well loose the right to claim FIT.

Have you tried the original Installer?

thanks for the reply. 

I have contacted the original installer, they wanted the £300 for ‘half a days work’ checking it all out. Their online reviews are not the best, it has to be said.

I presume the inverter is the thing in the loft, there are two of them, and both are live and tell me how much it has generated, possibly over its lifetime - each one says 18,000kwh roughly, which is in line with the total meter reading of 36050, which it is stuck on.

I guess next step is to go back into the loft and check those readings for a couple of days to see if they’re moving.

Even if they’re not registering, the house is still benefiting from the solar being generated, just frustrating that the meter doesn’t move!

it was installed in 2010, and is down as a ‘retrofit 0-4kwh’ system on the ofgem rates table. The rates are valid until 2037 as well, assuming they don’t stop working before then. 

I suppose as a last resort £300 to fix something that is likely to give me c. £1,000 a year back in payments from SSE is a bullet I’d be silly not to bite

Cheers

JSPENCER

I have checked the inverters this morning. Both have generated .17kwh and .15kwh today as of 9:45am, so they are definitely working. Guess the meter is dodgy! 

Heedtheadvice

No, wrong conclusion from the limited data you have!

As I posted above that amount of generation will not necessary show up on the meter. Take  note of the actual figures on both inverters and the meter at start and end of a period of time (such as first thing  and last  thing in a day or more) and, as you have two inverters, sum up both increases in figures and compare  that figure with the increase in meter reading over the same time period.

They should be near identical but the inverters will be  a little less acccurate than the meter.

Best done over a week or so if generation is poor to get a decent amount of generation to compare.

You probably will not notice those fractions of kWh generation you mention above unless you can read the decimal points on the meter!

JSPENCER

I understand what you’re saying, and will do exactly that just to make sure, ready for when I talk to another electrician

However, I know for a fact that enough energy has been produced to move the meter, as my solar i boost tells me it has used 10kwh of solar to heat the hot water over the last 7 days, and the meter has not changed at all during that time. Last week it read 36065, today it reads 36065. 

Cheers 

QrizB

JSPENCER said:

The issue I have is the generation meter (single phase, one rate) is not moving, it has been stuck on the same reading for the last week. The light on the meter is flashing indicating that the panels are generating electricity.

Is it an electromechanical meter, with rotating nymbers? If so, try a bit of percussive maintenance, ie. give it a smack

(If it's an electronic meter with a LCD display this won't help.)

... the cheapest I've been quoted so far to check it out is £300, so trying to avoid that if there is a simpler solution

I have contacted the original installer, they wanted the £300 for ‘half a days work’ checking it all out. Their online reviews are not the best, it has to be said.

...

I suppose as a last resort £300 to fix something that is likely to give me c. £1,000 a year back in payments from SSE is a bullet I’d be silly not to bite

A 4kWp system on a 2010-era FIT should be earning £2k+ a year, so getting the meter looked at and (if necessary) replaced by a MCS-certified installer is definitely worth doing.

Heedtheadvice

^^ the above two....yes definately worthwhile having a working meter!

Given the Iboost info i just hope it has been connected on the supply side of the generation meter and not prior to it (between inverters and meter) and thus diverting generation before measurement!

..... surely not, but easy to check! Switch it off for a while.