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I had my 5.6KW system with PowerEdge Inverter installed by SolarCity last week and it would be 4-6 more weeks until it is "officially" turned on. Since I will wait for a few more weeks I would like to get some opinions in regards to the monitoring of the system production/consumption.
I currently have an Engage Efergy Gateway with one pair of CT sensors on the main lines coming into the house. Unfortunately the system seems that it is reporting the total net power consumed or produced towards the meter. In other words if my panels produce 4KW and my consumption is 1KW the monitor will report a "Consumption" of 3KW without taking into account that the house is feeding the meter and not the other way around. I am thinking of getting another pair of CT sensors with a transmitter for the Production phase wires but I don't know If i should wait until tEfergy has some kind of announcement. I am thinking that the best idea might be to move the CT sensors from the mains to the inverter backfeed. I called into the Efergy 800# in the US and they mentioned that there might be an "enhancement" that will allow the direction to be reported correctly but they still don't know if this is going to be a new software update or a new product. But if you think about this that shouldn't be too complicated to figure out since:
1) If Solar Production > Main Power Metering then the system is feeding back to the Network and Consumption(X) = Solar - Main Power Metering
2) If Solar Production < Main Power Metering then the system is consuming from the network and Consumption(X) = Main Power Metering - Solar
When I was talking to the Electrician from SC he had mentioned that solar city can provide a metering probe that can monitor consumption but when I called in they mentioned that they used to offer this anymore since it is inaccurate. The other problem is that since I will be using solarcity to monitor the production where might not be an easy way for them to monitor Consumption.
Does anyone else have any ideas in regards to the power monitoring options?
Thanks
Mike
I currently have an Engage Efergy Gateway with one pair of CT sensors on the main lines coming into the house. Unfortunately the system seems that it is reporting the total net power consumed or produced towards the meter. In other words if my panels produce 4KW and my consumption is 1KW the monitor will report a "Consumption" of 3KW without taking into account that the house is feeding the meter and not the other way around. I am thinking of getting another pair of CT sensors with a transmitter for the Production phase wires but I don't know If i should wait until tEfergy has some kind of announcement. I am thinking that the best idea might be to move the CT sensors from the mains to the inverter backfeed. I called into the Efergy 800# in the US and they mentioned that there might be an "enhancement" that will allow the direction to be reported correctly but they still don't know if this is going to be a new software update or a new product. But if you think about this that shouldn't be too complicated to figure out since:
1) If Solar Production > Main Power Metering then the system is feeding back to the Network and Consumption(X) = Solar - Main Power Metering
2) If Solar Production < Main Power Metering then the system is consuming from the network and Consumption(X) = Main Power Metering - Solar
When I was talking to the Electrician from SC he had mentioned that solar city can provide a metering probe that can monitor consumption but when I called in they mentioned that they used to offer this anymore since it is inaccurate. The other problem is that since I will be using solarcity to monitor the production where might not be an easy way for them to monitor Consumption.
Does anyone else have any ideas in regards to the power monitoring options?
Thanks
Mike
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