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Does anyone know if this type of polyphase meter performs a vector sum of all phases such that the net consumption is billed to me?

  • 1 July 2024
  • 6 replies
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We are currently on a 3-phase supply with OVO and use all three phases (Ground source heat pump on all three, house on L1 and outbuilding on L2). Ovo metering team cannot yet fit a polyphase smart meter in this area I’ve been told and we are on a Elster A1100 3-phase meter installed 4 years ago.

 

We also have a small solar array on the house roof with a single phase inverter connected onto the house phase (L1). it is not a very large installation, producing just over 10kWh a day, and has no battery to store any unsed production - we currently give it away for free to the grid(!)

 

QUESTION - Does anyone know if this type of polyphase meter performs a vector sum of all phases such that the net consumption is billed to me. (ie can I be producing a couple of kilowatts of solar on L1 and using the same or less on L2 and not see the meter reading increase?

 

I don’t like the thought of giving away electricity for free, but the economics of adding a battery (and space required) plus the lack of a SMETS2 smart meter option mean I have no choice.

 

6 replies

BPLightlog
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Hi @PAA733 , I’ve been involved with someone using one of these recently and unfortunately it depends on how the unit was set up by the manufacturer as to whether it provides a vector sum or not. 
The one I saw installed was done by National Grid but even they weren’t sure of its set up. 
If you note the serial number, perhaps someone back at base can look at the manufacturing data

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Blastoise186
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Hiya!

I’ve just been digging into this one myself. Looks like the Elster A1100 seems to have a lot of variants and several optional features/extras that can be factory installed, but aren’t always selected.

The biggest factor here, is whether your unit has the Export support option or not, because some of them are Import Only and others are Import/Export enabled. If it doesn’t have Export capability, then unfortunately whether it does Vector Sum or not becomes irrelevant.

It’s an option that can only be Factory Fitted, there’s no way to retrofit it later to any unit that’s already in the field without replacing the entire meter.

The only way to know that I can think of is via ECOES, the national electricity meter database, which you can’t access directly. If you can get OVO Support to look your meter up using the Meter Serial Number K18C03513, they might be able to find those details.

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Emmanuelle_OVO
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Our community members have given some helpful advice here @PAA733, I’ll see if one of our metering experts has anything else to add here & report back. 

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Firedog
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… the lack of a SMETS2 smart meter option ...

 

Three-phase SMETS2 meters (like this one) have been around for a couple of years, but getting your hands on one is not easy - there aren’t many 3φ meter engineers around. It will depend on where you live, and having a meter that’s currently working with quite a few years of certification left will probably count against you.

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Thank you all for your responses - very interesting reading. @Emmanuelle_OVO have you had any luck speaking with your metering experts yet? (or can you point me in the direction of OVO support please).

 

It’s a (rare!) sunny day here in East Lothian and I’d love to find a use for the energy I am producing!

Shads_OVO
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Hi @PAA733,

 

Apologies for the delayed response. 

 

I’ve chased this up and our metering expert has responded said, “the meter will not factor how much it imports against how much is generated or exported. They’re always separated out and treated independently. It will record all imported, and then all exported and provide those values, no matter how many phases are involved.”

 

Hope this helps.

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