utility meter sensing.

[taylor]

I do in fact have the net metering agreement and it is approved. I have to get building inspector to look at it. Then I will get the new or reprogramed meter. I took a chance and tested the system out for a week. I knew going in I may be charged for excess current. With three air condition units running I figured not much chance of having excess current. I have seen meter slow down to a crawl at times though. Once when I cut units off I did see meter go backwards I think. I have to cover my cable running to my house before calling the inspector. I have top of pole mount 300 ft away

Thanks for the comments!

[foo]

Yes, otherwise you are screwing yourself. While it maybe true you will never more power than you use in a month, you still send power out on the grid at times. Without a net metering contract with the utility, the power you send out on the grid will be billed as power used by you. In otherwords you pay the POCO for what you generate and send out to them. With a valid contract and net metering the excess is a credit on your account.

For example if you generate 8 Kwh in a day during the day light hours, but only use 6 Kwh, that gives you a 2 Kwh credit to use at night after the sun goes down. With out a Net Metering contract you get billed for that 2 Kwh you sent them.

Power use is very dynamic and changes by the second. During the day there are going to be times you are not using any power or at least very little power. For example if you are only using say 500 watts, and the panels are generating 2000 watts, you are sending 1500 watts out on the grid and the power is being used by your neighbors.

So your meter doesn't count all the power you generate? Just the power that isn't used up and sent back to the grid? I thought it would track all power whether used from POCO or generated.

[inetdog]

So your meter doesn't count all the power you generate? Just the power that isn't used up and sent back to the grid? I thought it would track all power whether used from POCO or generated.

A meter which is connected between the GTI output and the rest of your electrical system is called a production meter, and will record only the output of the GTI. That number is only meaningful monetarily when there are specific tariffs or incentives, such as Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) which pay you based on your total production.
Otherwise, if you have only simple net metering, the production number is only useful for you to monitor and tune your system.
The meter between you and POCO cannot measure anything except net power flow into or out of your system. It cannot be used to determine your PV production.
A sophisticated meter can keep track separately of the total power going into your system and the total power going out of your system when the production exceeds your local load. A simple meter (e.g. mechanical) will only keep track of the algebraic total of the power in and power out.