Why are my solar panels causing my electric meter to run backwards?

Hi @MiguelAlabama ,

It’s actually better to fit a Smart Meter anyway - even if Comms don’t work for some reason, it can still track both Imports and Exports regardless. It merely won’t submit them for you.

OVO would contact you whenever readings are needed - and you’d just have to follow the instructions provided.

Hi @Abby_OVO thank you for the reply. O o have previously sent an engineer out to attempt a smart meter install but refused to do after not being able to get a signal. Were they wrong to do so? If I arrange for them to come again should I insist that they install a meter even though it is unable to use a mobile connection?

many thanks 

Hey @MiguelAlabama 

I’ve been in touch with one of our specialists about this to see what the next best step will be.

They’d like to take a look into it to see what we can do next to get this sorted out. I’m going to reach out to you via private message to take some details so we can help out here, look out for a private message here soon.🙂

I recently had seven solar panels installed on the north facing (yes, I know!) roof of my cottage, as part of the government’s ECO4 grant.  

I contacted OVO who told me that I can’t get a smart meter as there’s not enough WAN in the village where I live.  They emailed the following - I note that you have stated that we cannot install a smart meter which would be a criteria to meet in order for us to receive export reads to calculate payments. Additionally, if this is the case you will need to contact an accredited export meter installer and have them instal a suitable export meter in order for you the fulfil the criteria.

I eventually found a company that installs export meters - remarkably tricky to find any information about them at all - and they have told me that I’ll be paying around £450 yearly for the data contract and meter - yikes!  And particularly frustrating when a smart meter is, I think, free.

Next, I looked at getting a battery - but these are several thousand pounds - yikes, again!  

Finally, I’ve seen some oldish discussions on this forum about this very issue - specifically, the ability / inability to get a smart meter in an area where there is insufficient WAN, and I’m now wondering if this would be possible??  If so, all my many problems could be solved!

Finally - yes, really - in the meantime, my panels are producing energy.  What is happening to this energy - I’m imagining it floating out into the ether!

Many thanks

Cate

Hi ​@Cate123 , presumably your solar system is providing energy for your home but you’re correct that anything on top of your consumption will be sent back to the grid.

It would be useful to know what system you have installed - which inverter and if you have a monitoring system (app or via the web).

For the installation itself, I would have thought that you would get a certificate (MCS or otherwise) from the installers.

On the smart meter, there have been some improvements but it depends on your local area and signal. Do any neighbours have smartmeters installed?

Home batteries are a good addition to solar PV but this could be a future enhancement.

Hi ​@BPLightlog and thank you for your helpful reply.

I think what you’re saying is that, if I’m in the cottage and energy is being produced by the panels and I happen to be using electricity at the same time, e.g. the washing machine is on, then the energy from the panels will power that.  Otherwise, the energy goes into the national grid. 

I think that the panels were manufactured by Das Solar and I have downloaded the SolaXCloud app onto my phone and the panels are linked to that.  

There are two households in the village who also have solar panels - one household don’t speak to anyone!!!!  The other household are very happy to chat but have had the system in place so long that, although they can talk about the benefits, they can’t really remember the trauma of getting the system up and running.  What they do know is that they don’t have a smart meter and, indeed, Ovo have confirmed this to me today.

I’ve now found - online - that some people (presumably those who also can’t get smart meters) are able to submit readings manually.  I’ve emailed Ovo about this today and hope that they come back positively.  

You are able to export any excess solar PV production to any of the suppliers registered on the scheme, it doesn’t have to be the same company as your energy supplier. That being said, some will have their own rules as far as what they will accept as meter readings and certification.

You will need to look at SEG which is overlooked by Ofgem.

Hi ​@BPLightlog 

That is So helpful.  Although I’ve contacted OVO to ask if they take manual readings, following your message, I’ve quickly gone online and found four companies that definitely (fingers crossed) do take them.  I’ve sent them all an email and am feeling much more hopeful!

Many thanks

Cate

Hey ​@Cate123, 

It sounds like your solar journey has had a frustrating start, but I'm glad ​@BPLightlog has offered some great advice to help you get started. Please keep us updated on what you hear from the team regarding manual readings. If you don't receive a response, let us know, and we can try to follow up for you.

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