Smart meter help for pv installation

[DeeMGee]

Hi everyone, I wonder if anyone give give me some advice please. We live in Scotland & have recently had a PV Solar installation, we have an old style, wheel type meter for our billing, & it was recommended that we keep it if possible. All paperwork has been accepted by FIRST UTILITY, then we had this email a couple of days ago,

"Your electric meter is one that is known to the industry to not conform with the export of energy created by solar panels. We have arranged for our metering department to contact you to arrange for an engineer to come and change your electric meter for one which is compatible to the export of electricity which you generate from your solar panels. There is no cost incurred to this."


Is it compulsory to have a new "smart" meter, or do we have the right to insist that we keep the existing one?


thank you for reading my tale of woe. DeeMGee

 

[TedM]

You cannot keep the existing one if it spins backwards during export. But you can also refuse a new SmartMeter. The alternative is a simple digital meter that does not register any export.

 

[Gavin A]

IME though, most supply companies are ignoring the export function on the smart meters anyway, and still paying on deemed export as they don't have systems set up to deal with it all.

 

[TedM]

Not yet maybe, but once the SmartMeter is in place it will be very difficult for a homeowner to get it changed for anything else.

 

[Worcester]

Check out this thread: http://www.electriciansforums.co.uk...orum/68315-deemed-output-you-may-lose-if.html

 

[The Solar King]

It is highly unlikely you will have a smart meter fitted. The roll out is several years behind. There is still dispute over specification. You will get a digital meter that cannot run backward.

Currently, a smart meter would actually give a greater export payment. In an average house you are unlikely to use more than 35% of the generated energy from a 4kW system. Even with a proportional controller heating water you are better off as even the price of gas is higher than the export tariff.

Don't worry about any of this, just enjoy the benefits of your PV system.

 

[mark walsh]

When they fit your new meter it will be a small credit meter called a dummy meter as previous posts state smart meters are not compulsary and you can refuse but you are technically tampering wth the supply but not directly as the meter doesn't have a back stop fitted and they have informed you it needs changing so if you refuse the change you are liable for prosecution hope this helps