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Solar Panels actually costing money when switched on?

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  • Solar Panels actually costing money when switched on?

    Hello all, many thanks for reading this. I have a strange issue and am wondering whether anybody has seen or heard of this before. Basically in December 2017 I moved into my new home which had 4KW solar panels installed, all seemed fine, during the daytime I see them as 'Generating' and my digital generation meter is generating nicely with a good increment of numbers.
    For my home energy this is provided by One Select, (I just took this account over from the previous tenants on a dual tariff (day/night), wherein the previous tenants also had a FIT agreement with Scottish Power for energy generated and sold to them, this too I took over and succesfully registered for the FIT payments.
    Everything has been great until my electricity bills started to arrive for the home, they were outrageously high, I had been performing may exercises trying to detect what in my home is consuming huge power - it was the solar panels. With these powered 'OFF' at the breaker my home energy consumption has now dropped by more than 500% but of course nothing is now being generated by the panels.
    With the Panels on and generating my home energy consumption is off the scale & One Select are now asking for
    Last edited by Petehuws; 05-08-2018, 08:43 AM.

  • #2
    Yep, if you do not have a written agreement with the power company (PoCo) their meter only knows how to increase the count. If you feed power into their grid, the meter counts it as power you consume and you get billed for it. It's a backdoor way for them to make sure Guerilla Installs, cease after a while.

    article https://www.homepower.com/articles/s...olar-guerrilla
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

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    • #3
      Originally posted by Petehuws View Post
      Hello all, many thanks for reading this. I have a strange issue and am wondering whether anybody has seen or heard of this before. Basically in December 2017 I moved into my new home which had
      It would be nice if the rest of us could read the whole story of the this post. Bruce Roe

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      • #4
        BiDirMtr.JPG

        When my net meter was installed, I grabbed the original spinning disc meter. The reverse gear
        has been disabled, so the display runs up or down with the disc direction. Installed in the
        basement, it feeds a HEAVY LOAD box I installed for the few circuits that involve most of my
        KWH. That includes the PV solar inverters, so it keeps a running score of my energy reserve.
        A reading of the starting point on 1 April reset is now stuck on the front.

        What I want to know, does anyone know the meaning of all those marks on the disc? Best
        guess so far, is 147 turns equals a KWH. Bruce Roe

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        • #5
          Originally posted by bcroe View Post
          BiDirMtr.JPG

          When my net meter was installed, I grabbed the original spinning disc meter. The reverse gear
          has been disabled, so the display runs up or down with the disc direction. Installed in the
          basement, it feeds a HEAVY LOAD box I installed for the few circuits that involve most of my
          KWH. That includes the PV solar inverters, so it keeps a running score of my energy reserve.
          A reading of the starting point on 1 April reset is now stuck on the front.

          What I want to know, does anyone know the meaning of all those marks on the disc? Best
          guess so far, is 147 turns equals a KWH. Bruce Roe
          You are probably correct. While the meter is mechanical I believe it still used those markings via an optical sensor to measure consumption by counting the marks going by..

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          • #6
            Originally posted by SunEagle
            You are probably correct. While the meter is mechanical I believe it still used
            those markings via an optical sensor to measure consumption by counting the marks going by..
            The gear drive from the disc to the readout is clearly visible, no electronics. But the factory might have used
            those disc markings in calibration. If I knew more about them, might consider adding some photocells of
            my own. Bruce Roe

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Mike90250 View Post
              Yep, if you do not have a written agreement with the power company (PoCo) their meter only knows how to increase the count. If you feed power into their grid, the meter counts it as power you consume and you get billed for it. It's a backdoor way for them to make sure Guerilla Installs, cease after a while.

              article https://www.homepower.com/articles/s...olar-guerrilla
              Hello Mark, many thanks for this. My original question for some reason had lost its body of text of which I have now corrected. Do you know whom I shaould raise this with to be rectified? Many thanks & kind regards

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              • #8
                Sounds like you need to be contacting your PoCo. If you have a signed agreement and everything is setup and legal... then there is an issue on the PoCo's end or an issue with the meter.

                If you have everything in order and the issue is on them, they may be willing to reimburse you.

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