verifying pv power generation, and home usage

gfbankston

Hello,

What home monitoring system, like the TED, is suitable for monitoring home power usage on both sides of split-phase system, and can also tell me
how much power I am feeding into the grid?

Ideally, this monitor will track 24/7.

I just got the GA Power smart meter, and it shows almost no power being fed back into the grid. I have seen 2600W and more put out by the inverter, while
usage is typically 1200-1400 watts. I want to see if this meter is as bad as some report. "trust but verify"

take care

Glen

DanS26

Re: verifying pv power generation, and home usage

gfbankston wrote: »

Hello,

What home monitoring system, like the TED, is suitable for monitoring home power usage on both sides of split-phase system, and can also tell me
how much power I am feeding into the grid?

Ideally, this monitor will track 24/7.

I just got the GA Power smart meter, and it shows almost no power being fed back into the grid. I have seen 2600W and more put out by the inverter, while
usage is typically 1200-1400 watts. I want to see if this meter is as bad as some report. "trust but verify"

take care

Glen

If 24/7 monitoring is your goal then look into these alternatives:

1. The TED system is probably most cost effective. TED has a learning curve, read the TED Support forum to get an idea of the stuff you'll probably run into especially with a solar setup.

2. A pricier monitoring system is this: http://www.energycircle.com/shop/emonitor-energy-monitor-powerhouse-dynamics.html
but it requires a month service contract. Most people don't like that monthly fee. There are other even pricier industrial systems.

3. Install a meter of your own. Used or new meters are available on the market, especially the old rotary dial ones.

Just so you are aware, some of the new "smart" meters will not run backwards like the old rotary dial meters. Anti theft feature since some people were turning their meters upside down to steal energy. I suspect your meter will not run backwards, in fact it will add your excess production rather than subtract. A double negative hit. If this is the case it's time to talk to GA Power.

solar_dave

Re: verifying pv power generation, and home usage

Well my TED system does a pretty good job of figuring the NET I.e. back feed kWh. It can record hourly averages and it does allow verification of you overall totals. It is pretty close to my utility, about 2% variation, some of that may just be measurement method and time frame windows.

Adding a meter to the solar output is a good idea.

gfbankston

Re: verifying pv power generation, and home usage

Just so you are aware, some of the new "smart" meters will not run backwards like the old rotary dial meters. Anti theft feature since some people were turning their meters upside down to steal energy. I suspect your meter will not run backwards, in fact it will add your excess production rather than subtract. A double negative hit. If this is the case it's time to talk to GA Power.

Thanks for the reply...gee I hope GA Power knows what they are doing! They brought this meter special for me the other day. They installed a warning label
as well and put it on the meter base. The installer told me the whole GA Power office was buzzing about my installation, because they only know of 4 in this
area.

Glen

gfbankston

Re: verifying pv power generation, and home usage

Do you have the TED-5002 system with two sets of CT/MTU ??

I was thinking, and am not sure...what happens to the main CT's when PV exceeds the home usage. Can the TED monitor, or know about, reverse power flow?

BB.

Re: verifying pv power generation, and home usage

I think the TED 5000 series can Net Meter--The 1000 series cannot--As I recall from a long time ago. The website is impossible to see what it supported by model number (net metering? Aggregate Metering?)...

You might have to call/email them with your questions if nobody here can help.

-Bill

sub3marathonman

Re: verifying pv power generation, and home usage

You could also try the Brultech ECM-1240 monitor. They are supposed to have a fancy "Green-eye" monitor, but nobody knows when it will actually be available. To me, the ECM-1240 is probably good enough anyway, even if you had to get two. You can monitor seven separate lines, but each line can monitor more than one line from the electrical panel. Such as monitoring more than one lighting circuit on one ECM-1240 channel. I think there are a couple people here who have it and can tell you more about it.

solar_dave

Re: verifying pv power generation, and home usage

gfbankston wrote: »

Do you have the TED-5002 system with two sets of CT/MTU ??

I was thinking, and am not sure...what happens to the main CT's when PV exceeds the home usage. Can the TED monitor, or know about, reverse power flow?

You can check the link in my signature, I have 4 CTs. 3 separate loads and one generation. How TED handles a sub circuit off the mains for generation vs the mains is a differencing calculation for the net. So yes they can handle that properly. Mine is not connected that way. Mine is 3 loads and a generation all independent.

jagec

Re: verifying pv power generation, and home usage

gfbankston wrote: »

Do you have the TED-5002 system with two sets of CT/MTU ??

I was thinking, and am not sure...what happens to the main CT's when PV exceeds the home usage. Can the TED monitor, or know about, reverse power flow?

Mine is hooked up that way. It works fine. I can monitor solar production, household consumption, or net metering (consumption-production) with the click of a button.

DanS26

Re: verifying pv power generation, and home usage

gfbankston wrote: »

Thanks for the reply...gee I hope GA Power knows what they are doing! They brought this meter special for me the other day. They installed a warning label
as well and put it on the meter base. The installer told me the whole GA Power office was buzzing about my installation, because they only know of 4 in this
area.

Glen

OK. What does the warning label say?

Also does this meter show registers? Does it show DE (ie delivered) then RE (ie received); then NE (ie net)? Does it have a space of bars that move left to right when delivering power then moves right to left when receiving your excess power?

That is a smart meter that is compatible with solar or wind generation.

a0128958

Re: verifying pv power generation, and home usage

I use another alternative: Web Energy Logger (WEL). Includes provision of a web site, along with charting, real time values display, and off site data collection. The WEL is an Internet Appliance such that no computing equipment or s/w installations are required. No monthly fees.

See http://www.welserver.com/WEL0043 for my implementation using a WEL for my 8.1 KW grid-tied roof-top solar PV system.

See http://www.welserver.com for a WEL introductory summary, how it works, and pricing.

See http://www.welserver.com/index.htm for a map showing the locations of example implementations.

Holler if you have any questions.

Best regards,

Bill