Solar panels - no clue at all

ASA201

@Reed_Richards is it possible I don’t have an export meter or export element of my smart meter?    The photo I’m attaching is the earlier referred to PV meter I mentioned but the other meter I have, the smart meter, I can only seem to get it to tell me my consumption, nothing else about what I might be putting back into the grid? 

@martyn1981 good point re dividing by 11 (ish).    As said above photo attached as of when we moved in.   Would that tie in?  12739 / 11 = 1,158? 

@Ectophile thanks 

ASA201

Photo referred to above 

ASA201

Photo referred to above

Martyn1981

ASA201 said:

@Reed_Richards is it possible I don’t have an export meter or export element of my smart meter?    The photo I’m attaching is the earlier referred to PV meter I mentioned but the other meter I have, the smart meter, I can only seem to get it to tell me my consumption, nothing else about what I might be putting back into the grid? 

@martyn1981 good point re dividing by 11 (ish).    As said above photo attached as of when we moved in.   Would that tie in?  12739 / 11 = 1,158? 

@Ectophile thanks 

Yep that's it. Does seem a bit low though. Maybe there's shading, or there's been a problem at some point. Maybe the TGM was replaced after a few years due to a problem (but unlikely). I would have expected more than 1,158kWh pa, but it's not the end of the World, at least you are getting something.

If you are happy to give an approx location (just city, nearest city), then we can have a play on PVGIS to give a rough guestimate of generation. Will also need approx orientation such as south, south east, west etc. You could use a compass, phone app, for more accuracy, or look at Google images, which should be oriented north, and make a logical guestimate as to where the panels face. If it's a normal looking house roof we can just assume it's 30-40d pitch, but say if it's particularly shallow or steep.

Reed_Richards

AFAIK all smart meters will measure export.  Mine makes it easy by cycling through the Date, Time, Import and Export readings but you may need to press some buttons.  Maybe if you can identify the make and model of your smart meter someone can advise.  If you show a picture, blank out the MPAN.

ASA201

@Martyn1981 thanks.  I’ve had a look on google earth and attached a photo to this post.   The photo from google earth is due north and I’ve circled my panels which make me think they are facing west?  Or perhaps ever so slightly south then west.   Does that look right from what I’ve attached?    Maybe that’s driving the reduced readings vs what you would expect?   Nearest town/city would be Falkirk.  

ASA201

@Reed_RichardsSo looks as though my smart meter does indeed have an export section.   So today the IMP shows 21095kwh and the EXP shows 3465kwh.   Can we reconcile this with the generation meter I have from my panels which had the reading the other day of 12739?  3465kwh of 12739 (if that measurement is also kWh?) would give us 27.2% generation being exported if the meters were all installed at the same time?  

Is that likely though that the meters have all been there for the same length of time, around 11 years?   It’s a liberty 100 smart meter if that helps.  

Reed_Richards

I'm not an expert on smart meters but I looked up the Liberty 100 and it's a first generation (SMETS1) smart meter.  These were installed between 2013 and 2018.  The smart meter would not have been installed at exactly the same time as your export meter; does it have a label to say when? 

ASA201

@Reed_Richards closest piece of info would be a sticker that is signed by presumably the previous homeowner that says “socket safety test witnessed” which is dated 20/4/18

Martyn1981

ASA201 said:

@Martyn1981 thanks.  I’ve had a look on google earth and attached a photo to this post.   The photo from google earth is due north and I’ve circled my panels which make me think they are facing west?  Or perhaps ever so slightly south then west.   Does that look right from what I’ve attached?    Maybe that’s driving the reduced readings vs what you would expect?   Nearest town/city would be Falkirk.  

Ahhhh, west facing and far(ish) north. That'll be the problem then. Sorry shouldn't joke, at least you get long summer days. Wifey was up there this year visiting a friend, saw the Falkirk Wheel, and was totally smitten by the Kelpies

So I've used PVGIS and stuck a pin in the K in the middle of the word Falkirk. All I've done is enter 2 in the 'installed peak power' box (for 2kWp), and entered +80 in the azimuth box, and left the default roof pitch as 35d. For our point of interest (azimuth), it's the sun. So looking south that's zero degrees, and west would be +90, so looking at the pic, I'd estimate just under west like you say, hence I entered +80.

That gave a guestimate of annual generation as ~1,450kWh. But actual gen will vary a bit more depending on exact location and roof pitch, but most importantly shading, if you have any. You can have a play, just pop a pin right on your house, and enter the same figures I have for a rough estimate, or better numbers if you can find them.*

So, gut feeling, 1,158kWh pa looks a tad low compared to 1,450, but shading could knock 20% off, so it's not unreasonable. And hopefully as well as some 'free' leccy when the sun is shining, you should also be earnin ~£300 in FiTs income for the next ~9yrs.

*If you really want to get serious, and are interested, then you can get a compass app, and an angle / spirit level app for your phone. Use the compass to get a more accurate orientation of where the panels point, and the angle app placed against a roof rafter will give approx pitch. [Bet you wish you'd never asked now!   ]