OVO customer with OVO installed solar PV and battery (carried out by Gastech, model is a Solax Power)
In the Solax app I often see arrows indicating my battery is being charged by the grid rather than by my panels. The figures also sometimes run into negative numbers, and my SEG payments exist but seem smaller than anticipated (Eg £20ish for Autumn)
Pics attached - the meter I believe is the solar meter (bottom left, second pic) has a blinking red light.
Is there anything obvious wrong here?
Thanks
Best answer by johnr64
Updated on 16/04/25 by Ben_OVO
Hi,
First things first, Sorry for going a bit off topic,
I would say, if in doubt contact the installer if you think you may have a problem, I have a Solax hybrid inverter X1-mini-G4 but no batteries, I had an issue with my G4 with having random Arc fault alarm issues, I contacted my installer and they contacted Solax support, the alarms were due to a firmware issue and all is working good after updating, solax also updated the firmware on my wireless dongle 👍. Other users in the same position as me where there installer went cheap and fitted a similar type of export meter as your photo, with having a bit of experience in electrics I fitted a Solax endorsed Chint "X" version Meter, it`s quite an easy job to do, when you know how, the chint X meter came with the CT Transformer and the data lead to the inverter, the install cost around £90.
I monitor my Houses Imported kwh usage along with the Generated/Exported energy from my PV system all from the comfort of either my PC (Web Browser) or my Android phone,
I hope you sort it
If you’ve had solar panels installed by OVO and are experiencing issues, you can find the contact details for our Solar team here. We’ve also got a great FAQ’s page on our website.
Hi @adamnonfiction , it will depend on what else is happening when you see the charging occur.
All solar PV systems are not fully accurate as they only update every few minutes (rather than every few seconds) - a screenshot of what you’re seeing might help. The inverter could be programmed to take power as well so it’s as well to look and try to understand the settings if you can.
And yes, your generation meter is as you suggest. It is a ‘Net’ meter so will capture (and deduct) any import from the mains to the batteries from the actual generation reading (labelled as ‘Export’)
Thanks @BPLightlog - will get a screengrab next time it’s doing it. With this week’s weather, the battery is pretty full so it’s happening much more rarely.
Thanks @BPLightlog - will get a screengrab next time it’s doing it. With this week’s weather, the battery is pretty full so it’s happening much more rarely.
Ok good. There will be a setting which tops up the battery if the state of charge (SoC) drops below a certain figure. Again, it would be good to know what that level is.
First things first, Sorry for going a bit off topic,
I would say, if in doubt contact the installer if you think you may have a problem, I have a Solax hybrid inverter X1-mini-G4 but no batteries, I had an issue with my G4 with having random Arc fault alarm issues, I contacted my installer and they contacted Solax support, the alarms were due to a firmware issue and all is working good after updating, solax also updated the firmware on my wireless dongle 👍. Other users in the same position as me where there installer went cheap and fitted a similar type of export meter as your photo, with having a bit of experience in electrics I fitted a Solax endorsed Chint "X" version Meter, it`s quite an easy job to do, when you know how, the chint X meter came with the CT Transformer and the data lead to the inverter, the install cost around £90.
I monitor my Houses Imported kwh usage along with the Generated/Exported energy from my PV system all from the comfort of either my PC (Web Browser) or my Android phone,
I hope you sort it
If you’ve had solar panels installed by OVO and are experiencing issues, you can find the contact details for our Solar team here. We’ve also got a great FAQ’s page on our website.
@johnr64 @BPLightlog Thanks both. Here are grabs of energy seemingly flowing from ‘Home’ to ‘Battery’(despite battery being at 100%) and also showing a negative value at Home.
I’m still not sure if this is an issue in need of a physical fix or more an ‘accounting quirk’ of the app?
@johnr64 @BPLightlog Thanks both. Here are grabs of energy seemingly flowing from ‘Home’ to ‘Battery’(despite battery being at 100%) and also showing a negative value at Home.
…
I’m still not sure if this is an issue in need of a physical fix or more an ‘accounting quirk’ of the app?
I think it will depend on how long the ‘Home to Battery’ flow is there for.
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, almost all inverters take a while to monitor and switch power when required so if the flow exists for a short while and then switches to battery power, it’s probably not a fault but if it’s a longer term flow, you might want it checked out.
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