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Smart meter sending Solar generation as consumption?

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S
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Do you have a picture of your half hourly meter readings for the same day?

I don’t seem to have a way to see half hourly readings, which is frustrating and on my list to ask OVO about. If I try to view detailed daily data it says ‘Sorry, this usage data is currently not available’. Could this be my problem??

BPLightlog
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Do you have a picture of your half hourly meter readings for the same day?

I don’t seem to have a way to see half hourly readings, which is frustrating and on my list to ask OVO about. If I try to view detailed daily data it says ‘Sorry, this usage data is currently not available’. Could this be my problem??

Are your readings being estimated then?

Just looking again at the line graphs, if they are as suggested (it seems likely) then the brown line is grid consumption and there’s not much of that at all. Perhaps what has happened is that your addition of solar and battery has confused the recording and so it is showing estimates rather than your new actuals. 
Perhaps check your actual meter readings for a day or two

Independent volunteer - Sitting in a Faraday cage, waiting for a signal
S
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Userlevel 1
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Do you have a picture of your half hourly meter readings for the same day?

I don’t seem to have a way to see half hourly readings, which is frustrating and on my list to ask OVO about. If I try to view detailed daily data it says ‘Sorry, this usage data is currently not available’. Could this be my problem??

Are your readings being estimated then?

Just looking again at the line graphs, if they are as suggested (it seems likely) then the brown line is grid consumption and there’s not much of that at all. Perhaps what has happened is that your addition of solar and battery has confused the recording and so it is showing estimates rather than your new actuals 

I’ve just had one of the most frustrating customer service experiences on the webchat with OVO, who told me I have to wait 45 days for someone from the smart meter team to look at it, except the form allows you to do no more than provide basic details. Nothing about the problem itself. Spitting feathers at the moment…

According to the OVO app, the readings are not estimated, they are actual, but only once a month. So I’m not sure how it can show me daily kWh consumption from as recently as yesterday? Unless that is in fact estimated and it just isn’t saying so? I did manage to get the person on webchat to switch the meter to half hourly readings, so I got something useful out of the conversation.

But you’re right, I take it that the orange/brown line is grid consumption and other than the charging of the battery overnight and a small amount later in the day, there’s not much of it. Perhaps changing the reading to half hourly will make a difference. I might ring the solar company back and ask to speak to one of the engineers directly to see if they’ve seen anything like this before.

M.isterW
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If your smart meter is only sending monthly readings that's the problem. OVO won't know your usage has dropped because the meter hasn't sent a reading yet so the daily figures you're seeing on the app are estimates.

 

I suggest you start taking readings direct from the meter every day at the same time. That will tell you how much you're using from the grid each day and if it matches what you're seeing on the solar app (warning - the solar app will be less accurate than your smart meter so the figures are unlikely to be exactly the same but they should be in the same ballpark).

 

I would also recommend changing your meter to half hourly readings. That will give you more information about your electricity use. Any OVO customer service agent can request that for you.

 

I still don't think there's anything wrong with your smart meter so until you've checked your daily usage on the meter I wouldn't contact the solar PV company or speak to the OVO smart meter team.

1992 4 bed detached house. Solar PV + battery, Zappi EV charger, Mitsubishi Ecodan ASHP and i-life2 fan assisted radiators.... No gas 😊
S
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Userlevel 1
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If your smart meter is only sending monthly readings that's the problem. OVO won't know your usage has dropped because the meter hasn't sent a reading yet so the daily figures you're seeing on the app are estimates.

 

I suggest you start taking readings direct from the meter every day at the same time. That will tell you how much you're using from the grid each day and if it matches what you're seeing on the solar app (warning - the solar app will be less accurate than your smart meter so the figures are unlikely to be exactly the same but they should be in the same ballpark).

 

I would also recommend changing your meter to half hourly readings. That will give you more information about your electricity use. Any OVO customer service agent can request that for you.

 

I still don't think there's anything wrong with your smart meter so until you've checked your daily usage on the meter I wouldn't contact the solar PV company or speak to the OVO smart meter team.

Thanks for this, that’s encouraging. We did send a manual reading and it didn’t adjust the figures, but maybe it’s just not frequent enough to have made a difference yet.

As mentioned in my last post, I did manage to get the OVO agent this morning to adjust to half hourly and she said this should take effect in the next day or so. Hopefully this will start to make a difference to what I’m seeing.

Thanks for mentioning the accuracy on the solar app - I’m aware it won’t be perfect, but they’re not even close at the minute, so somewhere in the same region would be good!

D
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Hey did you manage to fix this?

 

Currently having the same issue as you with my PV supplier out to check CT cables etc and couldn't see any issue. 

 

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