Hi @mboursnell ,

Actually, that doesn’t look like the real Reverse Run symbol. I can see from your photo that your meter appears to be currently tracking legitimate exports. However, it might be the version of the user manual I’ve got could be outdated. I’ll ask a few people for help there, such as the legendary @Lukepeniket_OVO . Just to be sure!

OK, thanks. I’ve checked again and it appears to have vanished. I don’t know what that means. It difficult to find a really good manual for the meter…

Hehehe, that’s where my tricks come into play!

Here you go. https://www.smartme.co.uk/documents/Aclara-SMETS2-Single-Phase-Electric.pdf

That’s the entire user manual for the Aclara SGM1400 Series, which is the type you’ve got. It’s a bit technical, but should answer almost everything you need to know. If you get stuck, I can also try to help or summon Luke if I get stumped.

The fact the symbol has gone off and the fact you’re now Importing rather than exporting confirms my suspicions. That particular symbol only lights up during legitimate exports. If you had triggered Reverse Run, it would have stayed there until it was reset via SMETS Commands.

Yes I’ve seen that manual (thanks). It doesn’t seem to show my symbol, unless I’ve missed it.

Is there any way I can get the display to show more decimal places. Again it’s vaguely mentioned in the guide but doesn’t seem to tell you exactly how to do it.

The number of decimal places is set by the supplier config iirc. If you’re trying to submit a FiT/SEG Reading, what you’re seeing there should be fine.

That particular symbol isn’t in the manual either. I’ll see if Luke knows anything.

What I’m trying to do is this… maybe you can help?

We have 6 solar panels, and a Renault Zoe, and a home charger, and a 6A charging cable.

What we want to do is use the 6A cable and charge the car with it when the sun is shining, so most of the charge going into the car is from the solar panels.

I’ve done this but I need to check whether this is actually working… so….

I tried charging the car for an hour, and recording before and after readings, but they’re not precise enough (no decimal places) so it doesn’t really work.

Any ideas?

I think as long as the Total Active Import register isn’t moving much, you should be fine. You can also find the meter readings with decimal places on your IHD under Meter Info.

I’ll summon some extra help from @nealmurphy as one of our resident EV gurus. Hope this helps!

Any energy you generate from those solar panels will be consumed before it’s exported, and before energy is imported, @mboursnell. That’s the beauty of having an EV with solar panels. It’s like having your own battery on wheels!

Hi guys, yes it’ll show that symbol when you are generating more than what your using!! Absolutely fine :-)

Most panel systems are around 3kw whilst the car chargers we are currently installing are 8kw (I'm about the start my EV journey). So even on the sunniest of days your still going to import 5kw of energy.

Best use of the solar panels in my opinion is to store the generated energy.

Ooohhh… What EV are ya going for Luke?

Well, van wise they want me in a e-vivaro but with my current mileage thats impossible!

But ill be sitting my qualifications soon and starting to install EV on behalf of OVO Energy

Haha, what you really need is a Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust like this one. You’ll be able to go plenty of miles then! Just put some OVO livery on it and mind you don’t get choked by the generator in the back!

Don’t give up installing smart meters though mate. We need that skillset of yours!

Fear not @Blastoise186 as i will be a Smart/EV installer

Hehehe, one last favour to ask actually!

Do you have a newer version of the SMETS2 Aclara User Manual lying around by any chance? It’s basically this fella https://www.smartme.co.uk/documents/Aclara-SMETS2-Single-Phase-Electric.pdf but that version seems a little behind. :P

We aren’t using our 7kW wall charger to charge the car, (which would use more electricity than the solar panels produce) but a 13A “Granny cable” which has three settings, 13A, 10A, and 6A. Presumably the 6A is 1.44kW (using W = VI)