{"id":809,"date":"2011-09-15T16:37:47","date_gmt":"2011-09-15T16:37:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paulaowenconsulting.co.uk\/?p=809"},"modified":"2015-11-24T16:32:24","modified_gmt":"2015-11-24T16:32:24","slug":"being-a-pv-generator-lessons-i-have-learnt-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greengumption.co.uk\/live\/2011\/09\/being-a-pv-generator-lessons-i-have-learnt-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Being a PV Generator: Lessons I Have Learnt Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

FREE BRIEFING: due to overwhelming interest in the issue of ‘electricity usage meters going backwards after PV installation’ we have produced a briefing note on the topic. Click <\/span>here<\/span><\/a> to contact us to request your FREE copy.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s now been over 2 months since my solar panels were installed and commissioned.\u00a0 And I have just filled in my first generation form to receive my first FIT payment.\u00a0 I have also learnt a few new things about PV generation that I thought it would be useful to pass on to others.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Lesson #1 \u2013 your electricity usage meter should not go backwards!<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In an earlier blog I wrote excitedly about the thrill of my electricity meter going backwards. Well, my first big lesson is that it should not be running backwards!\u00a0 Basically, as I am quite a frugal electricity user anyway my generating capacity over the summer (I use the term lightly) months has slightly exceeded my usage.\u00a0 And, because I have an ancient, analogue electricity meter recording my general usage, I was finding that it was running backwards and actually giving me a negative reading.\u00a0 This put me in the unusual position of giving my energy supplier a negative reading for my quarterly bill update \u2013 a case of them paying me for my (non)usage.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Therein lies a problem with old analogue meters, they do not simply stop moving when you add a micro-generator to the circuit that is supplying you with all the electricity you require, they will turn backwards, recording the total amount of generated power you are producing \u2013 regardless of whether you use it, or whether it goes back to the grid.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve informed my electricity supplier of this and they are now arranging for me to get a new digital meter; which will simply stop moving forward when I am using my own generating power, but will never turn backwards.\u00a0 These are called \u2018back stop\u2019 usage meters apparently<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I did ask whether it would be possible to bypass the installation of another \u2018dumb\u2019 meter and go straight for a smart meter, given that my meter will have to be changed again within the next 8 years to comply with the timetable for all homes to have smart metering by 2019, but unfortunately, as I\u2019m not with British Gas, this is not an option currently \u2013 which seems a wasted opportunity to me.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

So my earlier excitement of the possibility of receiving\u00a0a 6pence electricity bill\u00a0was short-lived I\u2019m afraid.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure how we will work out exactly how much electricity I have actually taken from the grid in the last 2 months – as opposed to my self-generated usage, but I\u2019m guessing it is going to be a lot higher than a few pennies worth.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Related blog posts:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Being a PV generator: Lesson learnt Part 2<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

PV systems and meters running backwards: need for clear guidance<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FREE BRIEFING: due to overwhelming interest in the issue of ‘electricity usage meters going backwards after PV installation’ we have produced a briefing note on the topic. Click here to contact us to request your FREE copy. It\u2019s now been over 2 months since my solar panels were installed and commissioned.\u00a0 And I have just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-809","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-renewables"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greengumption.co.uk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greengumption.co.uk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greengumption.co.uk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greengumption.co.uk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greengumption.co.uk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=809"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/greengumption.co.uk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1939,"href":"https:\/\/greengumption.co.uk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809\/revisions\/1939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greengumption.co.uk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greengumption.co.uk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greengumption.co.uk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}