1. Press the A button to wake up the display so that 'Credit Mode Bal' appears
2. Press and hold the green 'A' button for 3-5 seconds to get the time, and then keep pressing A to cycle through until you see Total Act. Export 
3. Your export reading should now be visible on-screen

Googled from SO Energy's website so if it doesn't work it's their fault

I knew as soon as I posted this I’d find something. So instead of deleting this I thought I’d answer my own question so if some other poor soul stumbles across this in the future it hopefully could help them out.

Make sure the meter is in sleep mode (backlight off)

Press and hold A until you see ‘Time’

You should now be in a different Menu showing more options than normal, within this one I was able to finally find the Total Act Export!

So this didnt work for me, if you wake up the display you get stuck in the simple menu no matter how much you press and hold the ‘A’ button. I was only able to get into the advanced menu by pressing and holding the ‘A’ button from sleep.

Great to see a new solar panel owner here, @Freebo!

Already doing some fact-checking on how to read those export meter readings from your L and G smart meter too - Well done for those investigating skills too, @M.isterW.

In case you hadn’t spotted it we’ve got a great collaborative guide to all things solar here.

Think we need to get these export reading instructions added to our L and G guide too?

Hi @Freebo  - how is the solar install and SEG registration going for you? We are getting panels next month and have the same meter (not DCC upgraded yet). My expectation was that until our SMETS1 meter was upgraded and smart again we would not be able to get SEG payments. Is your SMETS1 still connected to the supplier that installed it, or is it the case that you can take your own readings to provide to the company buying back your energy? Would love to hear your experience to date. 

Great to hear about the upcoming solar installation, @SolarDan - Don’t forget to pop back and let us know once they’ve been all set-up (you’ll get a nice forum badge too!)

As for the SEG registration, here at OVO it shouldn’t be necessary to wait for your smart meter to regain communication. As long as it’s clocking your export readings you can submit these manually in order to receive your SEG payments. More details on this related thread,

Is that what you’ve found when applying for the SEG, @Freebo?

Hey, install went good, already saved a bunch of money! My SMETS1 meter has got the Trilliant Comms Hub upgrade similar to the picture above which I believe this means that it’s already been upgraded to the Smart DDC network however I am still able to manually read the export from the meter myself. Judging by what Jess has said above manual readings are likely fine.

Something I did do extra was to download and register the Bright app to my meter, unlike OVO’s site the Bright app is able to track electric usage down to hourly and 30m intervals which is really useful. On a few days since my solar was installed I can see in the app I’ve had a few 8 hour stints of not importing any electric from the grid! But ofcourse this requires eith SMETS1 with DCC or SMETS2 unfortunately.

My Dad has solar and can’t get a SMETS2 meter and doesnt even have a SMETS1 meter so I think he provides generation readings and they guess how much he’s exported.

As for SEG, I’m still waiting unfortunately. I submitted the paper work two weeks ago but not got anything back as yet (This is not with OVO).

Hi Jess, I see your guide is asking for instructions. I’m happy to provide a video if you’d like for you to see what is required?

Sure thing @Freebo ! If you’ve got one, that would be great.

The easiest way to get it sent over, is to upload it to YouTube either as a Public or Unlisted video and then post the link here on the forum. Feel free to create a second channel with a different name first if you’d rather not reveal your real name. Here’s how you can do that - make sure to use the Brand Account option for this purpose.

Thanks!

Great news that the install went well and you are seeing the benefits. We have a Trilliant Comms Hub as well but still not successfully connected and things like Bright and Loop are not able to connect. We do have a red flashing HAN light, not sure if that means it is trying to connect and failing, is not capable or nothing relevant at all. For what its worth the Citizens advice checker (Check your smart meter's working in smart mode (citizensadvice.org.uk)) can’t find us either.

It sounds like we should be able to get a reading from the dumb meter anyway and provide it to SEG company to get the cash which is good news (at least with OVO per @Jess_OVO ‘s comments). When I spoke to my solar installer about this stuff he implied SEG registration can take months - hope that is not the case, I don’t want to miss out on those lovely long summer days!

@Jess_OVO@Blastoise186 

What a fantastic explainer video there, @Freebo - earning yourself some lovely best answer points too!

How are you finding the solar panel exporting so far?

Any thoughts to share over here?