Question about my utility meter? Bidirectional?

[neweclipse]

It's not running backwards it's just not doing anything. Just standing still. The arrow is pointing in the other direction but the numbers arnt moving

Oh, I see. So they weren't dragging their feet after all.

BTW: I'm First Energy customer also, but not in PA.

[Markyrocks69]

Oh, I see. So they weren't dragging their feet after all.

BTW: I'm First Energy customer also, but not in PA.

Well if you consider not doing anything not dragging your feet then maybe

[FFE]

My smart meter display continuously scrolls through different info. One is kWh delivered to the house. This number never decreases, even when I am sending energy to the grid. Another is kWh sent to the grid. This number also never decreases. You may want to manually scroll through the info if there is a button to scroll with and keep track of what changes.

[Markyrocks69]

My smart meter display continuously scrolls through different info. One is kWh delivered to the house. This number never decreases, even when I am sending energy to the grid. Another is kWh sent to the grid. This number also never decreases. You may want to manually scroll through the info if there is a button to scroll with and keep track of what changes.

I have tried that. No other menus are available. I am happy to report that my meter has only gone up 1 kwh during the day today. I'm assuming that there must have been a big cloud and the ac must have been on during that time. So it appears that I'm not being billed for production, I'm basically just donating any excess to the poco. When I get the next bill I'll try to fight them and attempt to force a credit based on what the inverters report in production. Or at least try to get something.

[Markyrocks69]

So I emailed the interconnection department and they confirmed that the current meter needs a software update. That theyll do it whenever they get around to it. Like they couldn't have scheduled that like a month ago.....

[Ampster]

So I emailed the interconnection department and they confirmed that the current meter needs a software update. That theyll do it whenever they get around to it. Like they couldn't have scheduled that like a month ago.....

Attitudes like that makes me want to take as much load as I can off the grid. I actually like most of the linemen in the field. It is a shame their leadership is so short sighted.

[Salts]

So I emailed the interconnection department and they confirmed that the current meter needs a software update. That theyll do it whenever they get around to it. Like they couldn't have scheduled that like a month ago.....

I think 30 days is a reasonable time to wait. A bit long, but lets error on the side of being nice. After that, I would contact whatever local utility regulator you have and file a complaint about it.

After our grid tied system went online, our utility provider stopped sending us monthly statements. When I called, they said they were working on it. Then after a dozen calls, they finally sent some crazy statement that made no sense at all. Then no more statements. This went on for 6 months, at which time I filed a complaint with our state utility regulator. Got a call from the utility within a week and within a week after that, a new statement that was accurate.. and now we get regular monthly statements as well.

Sometimes you have to lite a fire under them.

[Markyrocks69]

The point I was trying to make was that it literally makes no sense to wait until the very last minute for the stuff regarding the meter to be scheduled. I sent in my final paperwork more than a month ago but why wait until the last second to schedule it? Do they think people are going to spend thousands of dollars on equipment and labor and in the home stretch be like "they found a deficiency in my application, just rip it all out the hell with it....." but don't worry I've been knocking at their door periodically throughout the process. Monday of this week I sent them an email like hey its been 25 plus days wheres my final approval? Like magic I had it by the end of the day. You cannot convince me that I would have had the approval that day otherwise....

[NewBostonConst]

Pull the meter and put jumpers across it.....they will come right out and get it done.....

They are stealing from you so steal back from them....

On a normal new meter install the electrician installs jumpers to power up the house till the utility comes and installs the meter. The PC comes when they want and usually in a couple days.

[Markyrocks69]

Pull the meter and put jumpers across it.....they will come right out and get it done.....

They are stealing from you so steal back from them....

On a normal new meter install the electrician installs jumpers to power up the house till the utility comes and installs the meter. The PC comes when they want and usually in a couple days.

That sounds like terrible advice. Lol. I'm a pretty competent diy electrician but I'm not sticking my hands in that meter socket.

Anyways here's the usage difference between Monday and Tuesday. This is from the poco website so it confirms that I'm not being billed for production and that the solar panels are doing their job.

[Salts]

That sounds like terrible advice. Lol. I'm a pretty competent diy electrician but I'm not sticking my hands in that meter socket.

Anyways here's the usage difference between Monday and Tuesday. This is from the poco website so it confirms that I'm not being billed for production and that the solar panels are doing their job.

Is that software from your utility company? Our utility meters allow customers to connect with a bluetooth device to see power consumption. There's also a box we can get for free that expands the information.
Neither of them work with bidirectional power, and because the solar system is pumping energy backwards, the software experiences a psychotic break and reports unreliable, seemingly almost random numbers. Just saying. After complaining about it, our utility company sent a guy out here to try to fix it. 4 hours he was here... he finally gave up and said its a software coding issue and he'll create a ticket but not to expect any results.. ever. (at least he was honest)

So as long as we pump power backwards, the software is not reliable in the least.

Just thought I'd bring that up.

[Markyrocks69]

Is that software from your utility company? Our utility meters allow customers to connect with a bluetooth device to see power consumption. There's also a box we can get for free that expands the information.
Neither of them work with bidirectional power, and because the solar system is pumping energy backwards, the software experiences a psychotic break and reports unreliable, seemingly almost random numbers. Just saying. After complaining about it, our utility company sent a guy out here to try to fix it. 4 hours he was here... he finally gave up and said its a software coding issue and he'll create a ticket but not to expect any results.. ever. (at least he was honest)

So as long as we pump power backwards, the software is not reliable in the least.

Just thought I'd bring that up.

I appreciate it. Those graphs are from the poco website. I'm assuming it's based off the same information that they use to figure out my bill so I hope its accurate. Lol

Idk if other information will become available after I get the software update that allows them to track my production and credit the bill accordingly. But as far as what I can see here it looks like its displaying the correct information. But as I said b4 as of right now I'm waiting for said update bc I'm just donating to them but it is making a difference. I used 30kwh in 24 hrs and normally it would be double that. I've produced roughly 100 kwh in like 2 days but it appears that one of my inverters is having some kinda issue that I need to track down. Both inverters are exactly the same, same number of panels, same shading same azimuth angle ect and the one produced like 85 kwh in 48 hrs, the other only 25 so something isn't right. But it's still promising, I guess it's a good time to figure it out bc I'm not really losing anything by the one not producing its maximum. But if it was and I'd be getting like 170 kwh in 2 days? That's way better than I was expecting. Might actually get to build up a small bank of credit b4 the winter.

[Salts]

I appreciate it. Those graphs are from the poco website. I'm assuming it's based off the same information that they use to figure out my bill so I hope its accurate. Lol

Idk if other information will become available after I get the software update that allows them to track my production and credit the bill accordingly. But as far as what I can see here it looks like its displaying the correct information. But as I said b4 as of right now I'm waiting for said update bc I'm just donating to them but it is making a difference. I used 30kwh in 24 hrs and normally it would be double that. I've produced roughly 100 kwh in like 2 days but it appears that one of my inverters is having some kinda issue that I need to track down. Both inverters are exactly the same, same number of panels, same shading same azimuth angle ect and the one produced like 85 kwh in 48 hrs, the other only 25 so something isn't right. But it's still promising, I guess it's a good time to figure it out bc I'm not really losing anything by the one not producing its maximum. But if it was and I'd be getting like 170 kwh in 2 days? That's way better than I was expecting. Might actually get to build up a small bank of credit b4 the winter.

If I was you, I would disconnect or at least turn off a couple strings of panels. The power companies are kind of jerks when it comes to this type of stuff and are likely to bill you for the power you gave them. Seriously, they do not like solar people.

If its been a month, call your state regulator, that's what they're there for.

[Ampster]

In California the POCOs use a Zigbee communication protocol. I purchased a Rainforezt device that reads the meter and uploads it to the cloud where I can see it. During the time I was producing solar but had not received my Permission To Operate the meter reported production. However on the PG&E website and on my bills it only showed zero when I was net producing. In my case I assume it was a software toggle that they had to flip when to PTO was issued.

[Markyrocks69]

In California the POCOs use a Zigbee communication protocol. I purchased a Rainforezt device that reads the meter and uploads it to the cloud where I can see it. During the time I was producing solar but had not received my Permission To Operate the meter reported production. However on the PG&E website and on my bills it only showed zero when I was net producing. In my case I assume it was a software toggle that they had to flip when to PTO was issued.

I've been given permission to operate they just said be warned certain meters will charge you for excess production others you just won't get credit for production until the meter is updated. I'm pretty confident I'm in the latter.