Not getting free electricity with PV panels.

[nyi]

I have had PV panels installed recently (rent-a-roof scheme). They are working fine. But I don't think I'm getting free electrity. On one sunny day, the panels were producing 2kwh and I was using only 200 watts ( I knew it by reading a gadget given by e.on). But the meter (digital one) still clocked up as it normally would. My understanding is that while the panels are producing more than what I'm using, the meter should not clock up. Am I right?
Many thanks in advance for the answers/comments.

Nyi

 

[poheZ]

I would assume the EON energy meter device is not bi direcional and cannot give you an accurate reading now the panels have been installed.

The best way to see if you are using grid generated power is to see if you grid installed meter is turning or pulsing, if it isnt then great!

 

[Gary K]

You are correct, there is a possability that your meter is configured to an anti tamper setting where electricity flowing to the grid through your meter is being added to the import figure - this is to defeat people who rewire their meter in an attempt to avoid paying for the electricity. I would suggest that when the panels are producing, you turn off all the circuits at the fuse box so you are not using any juice and see if the meter still clocks up. There are several treads on here regarding this.
Depending on where you have the clamps for the E.O.N meter it is also possible that you are exporting 200 watts and using the rest as they cannot tell direction of flow.

 

[Earthstore]

Gary is correct, however if your PV is connected into your consumer unit and you turn it off then your PV system will stop working too.
Just a thought Gary.

 

[nyi]

Thanks poheZ. The grid installed meter was pulsing despite the panels were producing more than 10 times I was using at that time.

 

[Gary K]

Gary is correct, however if your PV is connected into your consumer unit and you turn it off then your PV system will stop working too.
Just a thought Gary.

But it WILL stop the meter. LOL
Earthy is correct turn off the curcuits for the lights, ringmain etc

 

[poheZ]

then it is worth turning all circuits off apart from your pv circuit and see what happens to your pulse meter

 

[Gavin A]

what make of meter is it?

meter I've had this issue with has been a siemens.

 

[nyi]

what make of meter is it?

meter I've had this issue with has been a siemens.

It is not a siemens. It is AMPY METERING-UK.

 

[moggy1968]

Also, if they have used the wrong size cable on the install it may be that the voltage drop is too high so there is no flow from the inverter to your outlets.
How far is the distance from the inverter to the consumer unit. Does the cable from the inverter look the same size as the one for your sockets or is it bigger?

 

[Del Boy]

Depending on where you have the clamps for the E.O.N meter it is also possible that you are exporting 200 watts and using the rest as they cannot tell direction of flow.

A very good point... you might even have been using 2.2kW, generating 2kW and therefore importing 200W, and this is what the E.ON meter is telling you. The import meter would be clocking up if this was the case.

Whereabouts have you positioned the clamp meter?

I agree with Earthstore and Gary with turning off all the circuits but keeping the main box on and the solar pv generating. If the meter still goes up then, that would be worrying!

 

[Gavin A]

It is not a siemens. It is AMPY METERING-UK.

hmm, they're usually rebadged landis Gyr meters (E110 if i remember right). I've not known them to have problems, but it's possible they have that functionality that one of the energy suppliers chose to switch on.

 

[nyi]

A very good point... you might even have been using 2.2kW, generating 2kW and therefore importing 200W, and this is what the E.ON meter is telling you. The import meter would be clocking up if this was the case.

Whereabouts have you positioned the clamp meter?

I agree with Earthstore and Gary with turning off all the circuits but keeping the main box on and the solar pv generating. If the meter still goes up then, that would be worrying!

I was pretty sure that the the panels were producing 2.2Kwh on that day and the only electrical thing switched on was a fridge, and the meter still clocked up.

I swiched off the main (and the panels were generating) and the meter stopped completely.

I don't know whether E.ON knows I have the panels installed. It was rent-a-roof scheme. I thought the installer told them.

 

[nyi]

A very good point... you might even have been using 2.2kW, generating 2kW and therefore importing 200W, and this is what the E.ON meter is telling you. The import meter would be clocking up if this was the case.

Whereabouts have you positioned the clamp meter?

I agree with Earthstore and Gary with turning off all the circuits but keeping the main box on and the solar pv generating. If the meter still goes up then, that would be worrying!

At that time Sunnybean was showing that the panels were producing 2.2Kwh. The e.on gadget that tells how much I'm using was telling me 200 watts. I have this gadget for 2 years and I am sure it only tells me the usage only. The clamp for the gadget is on the wire ( marked with brown tape and the letter L) that goes into the meter.

 

[Mark.W]

Have you got night storage by any chance?!

 

[nyi]

hmm, they're usually rebadged landis Gyr meters (E110 if i remember right). I've not known them to have problems, but it's possible they have that functionality that one of the energy suppliers chose to switch on.

I'm not sure e.on knows I have the panels. I thought the installer would have told them.

 

[nyi]

Have you got night storage by any chance?!

I do not know. How can I find out? What difference would it make if I had night storage?

 

[Mark.W]

I went to a job once where a guy had panels installed, he had the same problem in that his meter was clocking up the units regardless! He had the spark around a couple of times and was reassured that everything was correctly wired! I went in after he asked for a second opinion and found that the spark had split the tails before the night storage meter and installed a submain for the PV! Now because it was split there it was on the wrong side of the peak meter which meant that when he was running appliances, the current was passing through the main meter and clocking up the units!

 

[Earthstore]

Eon have nothing to do with your install, firstly all systems under 3.68KW can be intsalled then the DNO (people that own the grid) Ie Scottish and Southern in my area have to be informed by the installer that a system has been fitted, this is done under G83 guidlines, if they have done this or not it will not affect you.

Secondly, they have to register with a FIT provider so they can recieve their payments, which they could use EON or they can use whoever they choose, I tend to use Good Energy for my customers, as I like the customer service that they provide.


Night storage heaters are metal things that are fixed to the walls of your house, that get hot during the night to keep you warm, instead of have a boiler and radiators, or a real fire.

 

[Del Boy]

At that time Sunnybean was showing that the panels were producing 2.2Kwh. The e.on gadget that tells how much I'm using was telling me 200 watts. I have this gadget for 2 years and I am sure it only tells me the usage only. The clamp for the gadget is on the wire ( marked with brown tape and the letter L) that goes into the meter.

The gadget has worked for 2 years but that was before your solar install... it's different now, hopefully I can explain why.

Where you have positioned the clamp meter, it won't show you your usage only now. The clamp is bi-directional, it can never show a negative. So will show what current is flowing through the wire, irrespective of direction.

As you have this on the Live wire going into or out of your import meter, it will show you either:

a) Net amount being imported: Usage minus generation or
b) Net amount being exported: Generation minus usage

In your example, this could be either

a) 200W being imported = 2.2kW usage minus 2kW generation
b) 200W being exported = 1.8kW usage minus 2kW generation

You can test this by turning off all the mains whilst the PV is still generating. The E.ON gadget should say a little bit less than your SunnyBeam (as it is assuming a lower voltage to what your inverter is generating) but should be roughly the same, so I would expect 2kW generation to show about 1.8kW on your E.ON gadget, the generation meter to be flashing and going up and the import meter to not be going up.

You can get the gadget to measure usage only, if you are able to position the clamp inbetween the consumer unit and the junction where the solar pv and grid mains meet. On a lot of installs though, this is inside the consumer unit, so not really possible.

Admittedly, this might be a red-herring to your problem, which sounds the case if you only had the fridge on.