Impossible electricity usage

leonj

have you looked at the feed in tariff meter?

deathshadow1701

Spoonie_Turtle said:

I can't really advise as I'm not experienced or knowledgable (sorry) but it might be useful to a) do the experiment at different times of day, and b) see if the flash rate changes when you turn things back on.  And keep video evidence, just in case.

I don't know much about solar panels but I find it hard to imagine they could be generating ~20kW to fully explain it, even if they were wired in wrong.

Ok thanks - I've now counted the flashes at night and it's flashing twice per second which I believe means we're using 7.2kW for just a fridge, freezer, 2 modern TVs, 2 fans and some devices on idle - probably about 0.5kW maximum. The daytime flash rate has stayed around 5.6 flashes/second but every day it's been very sunny. And the flash rate doesn't change noticeably when I turn devices on.

I'm really not sure how much electricity my solar panels generate, I'll have to go up in the loft at the weekend (assuming it's sunny) and see how much power they're generating.

deathshadow1701

Qyburn said:

As a quick test try shutting down the solar panels, switching off the consumer unit main switch (or isolator if you have one) and see if the meter continues to flash.

I've tried that, the flashes remained at roughly 5.6/second with the solar isolator switch off and every single breaker off.

Do you know if the meter failing could somehow cause it to flash like this?

deathshadow1701

leonj said:

have you looked at the feed in tariff meter?

Not yet, I'll go up in the loft at the weekend and get photos of the solar box - I believe it has a large LCD screen that displays a whole bunch of info.

Anything specific I'm looking for other than how much it's generating?

Krakkkers

Feed in tariff meter will be somewhere more accessible than the loft, are you confusing it with the inverter?.

tim_p

deathshadow1701 said:

Qyburn said:

As a quick test try shutting down the solar panels, switching off the consumer unit main switch (or isolator if you have one) and see if the meter continues to flash.

I've tried that, the flashes remained at roughly 5.6/second with the solar isolator switch off and every single breaker off.

Do you know if the meter failing could somehow cause it to flash like this?

If the consumer unit main switch is OFF then the solar inverter *should* also be off, so nothing connected to that CU will be powered and capable of importing power from the grid, irrespective of any CT clamps connected anywhere. If it’s still flashing then that implies another connection before the consumer unit surely. 

deathshadow1701

Krakkkers said:

Feed in tariff meter will be somewhere more accessible than the loft, are you confusing it with the inverter?.

My mistake! There is a basic meter above a cupboard but the inverter (or whatever it is) displays a lot more info including how much power is actually being generated.

deathshadow1701

tim_p said:

deathshadow1701 said:

Qyburn said:

As a quick test try shutting down the solar panels, switching off the consumer unit main switch (or isolator if you have one) and see if the meter continues to flash.

I've tried that, the flashes remained at roughly 5.6/second with the solar isolator switch off and every single breaker off.

Do you know if the meter failing could somehow cause it to flash like this?

If the consumer unit main switch is OFF then the solar inverter *should* also be off, so nothing connected to that CU will be powered and capable of importing power from the grid, irrespective of any CT clamps connected anywhere. If it’s still flashing then that implies another connection before the consumer unit surely. 

Ok thanks, I wasn't 100% sure if the solar system used the CU or bypassed it.

Any ideas how there could be another connection before the consumer unit?

I have considered the possibility that someone is stealing electricity but it seems unlikely to me since it's a detached house with no easy places to hide cables, plus the meter doesn't seem to have any extra wires going anywhere (just 2 neutrals and 2 positives, 1 of each coming out of the ground running to a plastic box with an earth and then into the meter. 1 of each going from the meter into the house). Here's a picture:

Qyburn

deathshadow1701 said:

Qyburn said:

As a quick test try shutting down the solar panels, switching off the consumer unit main switch (or isolator if you have one) and see if the meter continues to flash.

I've tried that, the flashes remained at roughly 5.6/second with the solar isolator switch off and every single breaker off.

Did you test long enough to see the meter reading increase? This needs to be reported to the supplier, no need to be concerned with solar panels or FIT meters, just a simple "my meter is increasing even when the whole consumer unit is switched off."

deathshadow1701

Qyburn said:

deathshadow1701 said:

Qyburn said:

As a quick test try shutting down the solar panels, switching off the consumer unit main switch (or isolator if you have one) and see if the meter continues to flash.

I've tried that, the flashes remained at roughly 5.6/second with the solar isolator switch off and every single breaker off.

Did you test long enough to see the meter reading increase? This needs to be reported to the supplier, no need to be concerned with solar panels or FIT meters, just a simple "my meter is increasing even when the whole consumer unit is switched off."

The meter screen recently stopped working.

I'd like to get it replaced with a smart meter - but not until I've established if they've been overcharging me which currently seems to be the case.