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  • Grid tied system without net metering

    hello all! I am from Indonesia and really happy to be joining this forum.

    I installed a 6 kwp system with microinverters at my house, and also changed the grid meter to net metering one.

    My question is what happens if the grid meter is not changed to net meter type? What will happen to the excess electricity produced by the solar energy system? I tried to google and search but I find conflicting information. The reason why I ask is in Indonesia the national electrical company only provides the net meter for up to 41 kva power, while there are definitely residences or other properties (commercial, factories etc) that definitely have more than 41kva.

    Many thanks for any inputs

  • #2
    The simplest possibility is that the meter is not sensitive to the direction of power flow and thus the utility bills you at the same rate for excess power you send back into the grid as they do for power you take from the grid. This is obviously not desirable and therefore is most often accommodated with a system that controls its output so that it never tries to send power back into the grid.
    Another option is to simply disregard power sent back into the grid.
    A third option is to sense power sent back into the grid and penalize you or disconnect your service as a result.
    Yet another option is to use two separate metering rates and sell you power at the retail rate and buy power back at the wholesale (production) price or lower.
    SunnyBoy 3000 US, 18 BP Solar 175B panels.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by henryaltis View Post
      What will happen to the excess electricity produced by the solar energy system?

      The electricity does the exact same thing with or without a net meter. It is how you are billed for it or how a meter registers it.

      There are however different settings (some requiring additional hardware) that the inverters can be configured to do such as "grid zero" or no feed in. Some inverters can be configured to never feed power back to the grid. They will produce power only for local consumption. If there is not enough local consumption then they throttle back, or stop generating power.

      OutBack FP1 w/ CS6P-250P http://bit.ly/1Sg5VNH

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      • #4
        Many thanks for the explanation. Really helpful!

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        • #5
          There are also ways to divert excess production into opportunity loads such as in hot water storage or the like.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by neweclipse View Post
            There are also ways to divert excess production into opportunity loads such as in hot water storage or the like.
            How would you accomplish this? is there a separate device that can be installed?
            Thanks

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            • #7
              Originally posted by henryaltis View Post

              How would you accomplish this? is there a separate device that can be installed?
              Thanks
              Yes, there may not be separate devices available, but controllers that include this feature are commonly sold in the UK market. There is no need for them in the US. If I were to look for separate devices to control opportunity loads on an existing system, I would still search in the UK market first.
              SunnyBoy 3000 US, 18 BP Solar 175B panels.

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              • #8
                Since solar system installation, My electricity bill has increased instead of lower the bill. I don,t know how to stop sending excessive power to energy meter. Solar PCU details are attached.
                Attached Files

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                • #9
                  It looks like that hybrid inverter does not have a configuration to prevent sell back of power. At least not in the specifications. Maybe more options are listed in the actual manual?
                  If you cannot throttle back the inverter output, you can at least use a reverse power relay to detect when inverter output is greater than your local load and switch in optional (opportunity) extra load like water heating to soak up the excess power.
                  SunnyBoy 3000 US, 18 BP Solar 175B panels.

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                  • #10
                    Thanks for quick reply. I think the best way is to disconnect main power supply during day time if we are getting good sun light .

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by neesain View Post
                      Thanks for quick reply. I think the best way is to disconnect main power supply during day time if we are getting good sun light .
                      That will work with a hybrid inverter. A pure grid tie inverter would just stop putting out power when disconnected from the grid.
                      SunnyBoy 3000 US, 18 BP Solar 175B panels.

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