Hehehe, glad to see I’m not the only Pokemon named member here now! XD

Blastoise186 Gigantamaxes and uses G-Max Cannon on @Pikachu22 ! :P

I’m not sure on the status of the trials or a potential waiting list right now. But Three-Phase Smart Meters are DEFINITELY coming to OVO in the future and you’ll certainly be able to request one once they become generally available (and yup, it’ll be announced in many places!).

In the meantime, OVO has full support for traditional three-phase non-smart meters, so if you need to upgrade to three-phase now, feel free to go down that route in the meantime, as you’ll be able to upgrade those meters to smart meters for free once they’re ready.

We already have 3 phase, 12kw solar array and a powerwall. But no way to get a smart meter. Customer services said they were fitting the smart meters already hence me switching but not sure this is the case now.

no point downgrading our supply since we have 2 evs, and even then can’t switch to a ev / time of use tarrif. Quite frustrating really, since am even happy to pay for fitting one.

The whole thing is a mess really especially since new build house are supposed to be being fitted with 3 phase supplies from the outset so they can install ev chargers.

Look forward to hearing from any of the OVO members on the topic.
 

pika pika :)

Yeah, I would definitely recommend against downgrading to a Single-Phase Supply with the kind of setup you have. Pretty much everyone on this forum who knows about this stuff would definitely agree with both of us on that point.

I’ve set a marker on this thread to ask @Tim_OVO and @Jess_OVO to check in when they get a chance and they can hopefully get an update for you. You won’t be able to see that marker yourself, but it has been set.

Trust me, it’s nowhere near as destructive as my Surf move! XD

Another Pokemon-fan on the scene, @Pikachu22 - Great to see you asking a really important 3 phase smart meter question here!

I’ve just checked in with the metering team on this one. They’ve advised that our trials of a new smart meter model are ongoing. We’re hoping to extend these trials towards the end of the year and will of course keep all our favorite Pokemon forum users updated. 

Hi Jess_OVO

I too am looking for a 3 phase smart meter with economy 7

Moved to OVO last year April, booked a smart meter installation (mandatory condition by OVO) only to be told “you have 3 phase, can’t fit a meter that let’s you keep 3 phase”

We are in the process of getting solar panels and I have been told need a smart meter to get paid for any feeding into the grid (even if it is only something less than 20% of the cost of buying).  Can someone tell me if this is true?

Project solar guy told me I have 3 phase “all big companies fit 3 phase economy 7” but this is obviously not the case yet.

What is the “average” electricity usage for a 4 bedroom detached house (oil central heating and emersion heater hot water system)? is 5000KWh really the norm? (where am I going wrong?)

Spoke to my DNO Western Power this morning, who assure me I do not have 3 phase. Have a meter that has ISKRA AC- 3 Ph 4 wire written on it. 3 phases and a neutral cable coming into the box, (phases all have 100A 415V a.c. fuses on them) and connected to the meter (which has economy 7)

Been told that if I downgrade to single phase with DNO (which Western Power says I do not need to do because I have single phase) I may need to pay a large sum of money but nobody gives me a number (anybody any idea?.

Have also been told that If I downgrade cannot have my 8 KWh system without another 12 weeks delay for permit application from Project Solar to DNO. Is this correct?

Finally Project Solar assures me that by 2025 everybody MUST have a smart meter, is this true?

Sorry lots of questions but completely baffled by the avalanche of inconsistent information at the moment.

Regards

Dion

Howdy @Dion van Overdijk !

That’s quite a puzzle there. Please show us photos of your current meter, as we’ll need those before we can try to solve this one.

Thanks!

Does that sound right, @PeterR1947 - a DNO permit for single phase solar but not 3 phase?

As blastoise mentions, @Dion van Overdijk, a photo of the meter area will give us a good chance of telling if you have 3-phase supply or not.

In the meantime I can confirm that we’re still testing 3 phase smart meters so they’re not quite ready to be offered to anybody that needs them yet. 3 phase smart meters are coming very soon.

You don’t need a smart meter to have solar though:

A PV installation of 8kW will need permission from the DNO regardless of single or three phase supply; the limit is around 4kW and anything less than this installer can simply inform the DNO within 28 days after commissioning that a connection has been made, if it is connected through an inverter that has been type tested for use with a solar PV system
(engineering recommendation G83/2).

Yup, that’s Economy 7 Three-Phase for definite, both on the main fuse and meter.

!!!CAUTION! SAFETY ISSUES DETECTED!!!

You appear to have multiple tamper seals missing. Please have a chat with Western Power Distribution (or your DNO if it’s not WPD) about that as they’ll definitely be happy to send an engineer out to fix them for free. In the meantime, please don’t touch anything as you may get zapped.

I also note that your meter has gone around the clock at least once. Not a safety issue, but a sign that it might be time to upgrade it soon.

Hi Blastoise186

Thanks for confirming the hardware showing is 3 phase, but how could it be Western Power (DNO) has record of me being single phase?

One more thought would be if the cabling coming into my home is 3 phase but at “other side” connection DNO has 2 of the phases made redundant.

Obviously the problem is going to arise when Project Solar is going to register the connection of a 8KWh panel system whilst a 6KWh system being the maximum without specific approval by DNO.

I count a total of 9 tamper seals (intact) in the box, don’t think is gone around the clock yet which would have meant well over a million KWh in 20 years

Regards

Dion

Hmm… Got a second @Lukepeniket_OVO ? I could probably use your expertise here!

I personally doubt any DNO would shut down just two out of three phases, it’d cause tons of powercuts!

It isn’t too easy to follow from the photo, especially with the cables going off to the left but it looks to me as though you might only be using a single phase, it looks as though the only output from the meter is that labelled A

So PeterR1947 this makes some sense to me, I take it that phase B and C are fed into the meter but simply not connected to my home electricity

Below description to augment image (sorry for terminology used)

4 cables supply

3 fuses

from left to right A, B, C

“B” and “C” go into the meter but do not come back out

“A” goes into meter and comes out again,

goes through little grey box in middle,

Thick cable coming out goes off to left to go:

into a (very large 3-way) switch which allows selecting (1) grid power, (0) no power, (2) power supplied by generator (connected by a thick round plug)

2 cables come back to go through the two little black boxes under meter, 1 has “A” tag on it and both of them move off on the right top into my fuse box on other side of the wall

a 3rd thick cable (partially obscured) goes back into the meter - to the right of the what I think is the earth cable (with the black ring on it) that comes from supply

The smaller cable out of top of little grey box goes into box on left as does a thinner cable from the meter. the cable in the middle out of box on left goes to supply.

Hope this helps?

Dion

Hello, 

So yeah 3 phase meter but only phase L1 being used out of the meter. Whilst 3 phase Smart isn't available yet but we are so close to using the kaifa 3 phase Smart.

With regards to the DNO shutting the phases it could simply be that they've removed the fuses from fuse 2 + 3 or they've physically disconnected somewhere, there isn't a way to tell unfortunately other than enquiring (which you have done) or getting the dno to do a site visit.

I think Peter has the best advice about the size of the PV install.

Hi Dion, yes, that’s helpful so the two cables that go into the little black boxes then feed your consumer unit.  The two cables coming out of the meter on the right, one is marked N for neutral and the other with a black ring around it I suspect is also a neutral although I can’t see where it comes from.  The earth wires are all the green/yellow ones.

Also, when you have your PV installed, assuming it’s connected into your consumer unit as normal, I think you will need the cables that come from the two little boxes to your consumer unit upgraded, difficult to see but they do look thinner that the cables into/out of the meter.

Peter

Thanks gentlemen and please forgive further questions.

I understand that I do not have to have 3 phase to have solar panels.

We were told that if our system is over 6KWh on a single phase the PV installers will have to apply to DNO for permission for it to feed back into grid. Warning was that this would cause potential 12 weeks delay from DNO - any reasons why?

I assume that “upgrading to 3 phase” for us is likely to involve the DNO to reconnect/install fuses on the other side but effectively all infrastructure already in place. What would a likely charge be for that?

There would also need to be work by an electrician to connect the than “live” phases “B” and “C” to our home electrics.

Doesn’t that make our home into 415volts from the current 230v

Would we be using more electricity as a result of this assuming no other appliances connected no change in usage behaviour?

Would OVO be charging us more in their standing charge?

Hi Luke is the Kaifa 3 phase smart also economy 7?

All smart meters are capable of doing basic Economy 7 functionality. You only need a more advanced one if you need the ability to have the meter automatically flip circuits on and off at the right times as well. :)

You have to apply for permission from the DNA as they need to confirm that your PV output won’t be unbalancing a phase, it’s a complex calculation depending on the load at your substation, your distance from it and what else is happening in your neighbourhood.  Its possible that they might say you can’t have the Capacity you are planning, for example, I’n on a vehicle to grid trial and although I would be able to export 7kW from the car, I’m limited to 4kW by the DNO.

Hi Luke

Do you know if there is  a list I can register my interest for 3 phase meter? Is there some form of system whereby OVO informs me about the use/installation of these devices?

Regards

Dion

You're in luck actually. I believe @Tim_OVO is keeping track of forum members interested in the upgrade. :)

Yep I’ll add you to the list, @Dion van Overdijk - we’ve actually recently had an update on this internally and it’s on my to do list to update all 3-phase smart meter topics and anyone interested privately, so I’ll send you a message this week with an update. 

I am a longstanding Bub customer and they have refused to install a smart meter as we have a partial 3 phase supply.

We are installing solar PV and need to have a smart meter as part of this.

Any suggestions as to how to get this installed? Do we need to downgrade to single phase?

Hi @Nixster32 ,

This can be a tricky one. OVO is now starting to offer Three-Phase SMETS2 Smart Meters in certain areas and is slowly ramping up the availability as more engineers become available. I don’t know about Bulb though.

Can you show us photos of how everything is set up please? I’m great at advising about Smart Meters, but I’ll need to call in a few friends about the rest of it.