Can my smart meter work out how much I export from my solar panels?

I had a smart meter installed after getting solar panels and I can confirm it does give the export reading, but with my meter its a bit convoluted having to press a certain button and get the second reading that appears - I'm not sure that applies to all meters fitted, but in my opinion, my meter is hardly "smart". I don't know if the reading would be accessible via a display panel as I was not provided with a display panel and neither have I been offered one, some 2 years after having the smart meter fitted!!!sorry no, the export reading is not shown on the IHD. What it does show after two or three presses is the net use as of "now", though it appears to only register every 20 seconds or so. So for example it might show -877W meaning an export or if I switch the kettle on it might show 1.91kW (it is a 2.5 - 3kw kettle). I cannot see the total exported.

My installer didn't give me an MCS certificate and I have yet to find someone near me in SE London or North Kent who will do that,
If I were you I would get in touch with these people who should be able to sort out your MCS Certificate given they are responsible for the certification process and should be aware that your installers registration lapsed on the date you paid, but the system was fitted whilst they were still registered and so therefore should still be certified.
http://www.microgenerationcertification.org/
Ovo have all my relevant paperwork except this so they can't help, No they won't, they will require the third party certification. then there is the business of how much you get payed according to when you registered ??!! it all seems so convoluted and the National Grid are doing very well out of it!
I only have a small system (2.0kwp) but my last quarterly FIT cheque was close to £100. Depending upon how you deal with this I would think you might even be able to backdate your claim for the FIT payments, it really is worth pursuing.My installer didn't give me an MCS certificate and I have yet to find someone near me in SE London or North Kent who will do that,
If I were you I would get in touch with these people who should be able to sort out your MCS Certificate given they are responsible for the certification process and should be aware that your installers registration lapsed on the date you paid, but the system was fitted whilst they were still registered and so therefore should still be certified.
http://www.microgenerationcertification.org/
Ovo have all my relevant paperwork except this so they can't help, No they won't, they will require the third party certification. then there is the business of how much you get payed according to when you registered ??!! it all seems so convoluted and the National Grid are doing very well out of it!
I only have a small system (2.0kwp) but my last quarterly FIT cheque was close to £100. Depending upon how you deal with this I would think you might even be able to backdate your claim for the FIT payments, it really is worth pursuing.

There seems to be no relevant Body prepared to do anything about this problem,
The installer has been promising for a whole year to look into it and do something about it,
Suggest you take them to the small claims court, they are costing you a great deal of money in lost revenue.
All the different Bodies I have contacted just pass the buck to each other Even Ofgem. I would persist with OFGEM and open a case with the ombudsman.
https://www.ombudsman-services.org/sectors/energy
Does anyone really understand this new industry or are we paying out a lot of money just to be guinea pigs while the Grid and its shareholders are the ones gaining from our investment ?Not saying you are wrong, I have no doubt the Grid and its shareholders are doing very nicely but you seem to be missing out on a lot of the benefits of these systems. You seem to have paid out a great deal of money for the installation for 'green' credentials but are financially penalised. You really do need to understand the system yourself before you assume no-one else does.

If Ofgem understood the whole picture they would help, if they can't help then I don't see the point of their existence.
If you have paid a lot of money to install solar panels and are not claiming your FIT payments then I would respectfully suggest that it is you who do not understand the system and until you do it is unlikely that you will get anywhere with any of the organisations I have previously directed you to. You can criticize as many organisations as you like but until you sort out your own understanding of the system and your rights and responsibilities within that then you are not going to get any further. You need to start with obtaining your MCS certificate, which, in my opinion, shouldn't be too difficult. Until you do that you are not going to progress with anybody, they all require that initial certification and if your installer has not provided that then he/she should be held accountable for your lost revenue. Was he/she registered in the first place? If you have been chasing him/her for over a year then that in itself sounds suspicious. Might be worth directing your anger towards the installer and trying to progress the MCS certificate instead of everyone else who can only help once you have the MCS certificate.

As a new customer, I have just signed up to have my smart meters installed; will there be any problem with the electricity smart meter as I have solar panels fitted?

Hi PeterR1947,
There will be no problem in having a smart meter working with your solar panels, but don't expect the smart meter to do anything "smart" for getting your FIT readings - assuming your set-up is like mine, you will still have to take individual readings and submit them to OVO to get your FIT payments.

(This was my first post to a forum, hoping the query is beneficial to others too)

Hi @PeterS and @Gizmo,

I've moved your comments to a thread about Solar panels and Smart meters.

@Steve587 can you help with this one?

Thanks,
Nancy

Hey @PeterS and @Gizmo

Just so you know - smart meters are compatible with both PV and Economy 7.

If you'd like to find out what our Economy 7 rates are, you'll need to get a new quote. Once you've entered in your details and clicked 'Next' you'll be offered 3 quotes. You can then click on 'Refine your quote' which is where you'll be taken to a page with the option to tick 'I have an Economy 7 meter'. Once you've clicked 'Continue' you'll be offered the Economy 7 rates for your area - https://switch.ovoenergy.com/get-quote.

Thanks,
Emma

Seems a bit of a convoluted way to get tariff information, rather than it being available directly. It seems to imply there are different rates depending where you live

I am thinking about having a smart meter installed since OVO has indicated that I will have to do this if I want to remain on my present tariff upgrade,  OVO BeyondBETA.  Is this correct?

If I have to have a smart meter installed, how does the smart meter interact with the existing meter for our solar PV installation (the feed-in tariff is provided by npower, not Ovo). For example, will the smart meter be able to measure the amount of electricity fed into the grid from the solar PV installation?

Your post raises a couple of queries/issues.

(1) It would seem that OVO are currently unaware (they are now, though!!) that you have solar panels installed and are receiving payment from npower. The issue though, is that you are  feeding in energy, thereby reducing your billed consumption (from OVO). When I had solar panels installed, OVO insisted I had a smart meter installed - my old spinning-disc type meter was going backwards thanks to the solar panels and I was building up credit directly (in addition to the FIT benefit). So expect to be forced to have one, whether you want it or not!!

(2) This doesn’t mean you should change your FIT arrangement from npower to OVO - you can leave it as it is, whilst getting OVO to supply your electricity.

To answer your question, yes, the smart meter will measure and display your exported electricity.

The smart meter will record - and show - the amount of energy exported, as this is what is used to provide the reading for the FIT payment. The IHD (Pipit or similar) will not show this, as it does show instantaneous usage/costs etc. for the property as a whole, but, as far as I know, not for solar panels in isolation.