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Old 12-29-16, 11:48 AM   #121
Roostre
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This language seems pretty clear.

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Old 12-29-16, 12:34 PM   #122
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The language in the email makes me think its ok to run it now...

The net metering application has been approved, and we have received the inspection. The next step is to have the net meter scheduled to be set. Once the net meter is set you will receive a closure e-mail and completed application/agreement for your records.
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Old 12-30-16, 05:55 PM   #123
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Roostre View Post
The language in the email makes me think its ok to run it now...
When the power company guy showed up to swap in my net meter (back in 2013), 10 panels (half my array) were running in "testing" mode. I knew full well that any over-production was NOT spinning my standard smart meter backward or giving me a credit, in fact everything I read about the "standard smart meter" my power company was using indicated it was factory programmed to only roll numbers forward even if you were trying to roll it backwards, to avoid electricity theft. The shedding of my base load, and triggering my electric water heater to run right around solar noon lowered my chance of having my PV array spin the meter too much in the power company's favor while I was "testing" my system, since any excess I was "giving them" was adding to my bill.

If your power company has made any "smart meter" data available to you online, I strongly suggest you mine it for anything you want before they swap your meter. When my smart meter went in, it was months before they got things reconfigured to where I could view my usage data, and all my old data was wiped when they pointed their webpage at the new meter database.
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Old 12-31-16, 08:57 AM   #124
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I did some experimenting and where2 you are exactly right! The meter only goes up even when I am clearly making more power than I'm using. You can see the little direction indicator reverse itself, but the meter only tallies up so I am being charged to generate right now!!
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Old 12-31-16, 11:53 AM   #125
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I did some experimenting and where2 you are exactly right! The meter only goes up even when I am clearly making more power than I'm using. You can see the little direction indicator reverse itself, but the meter only tallies up so I am being charged to generate right now!!
Exactly how my original unit behaved. Despite being capable of running two different tallies, my power company installed a completely different brand of smart meter when I received my net meter, and manually stopped by each month to log it for over a year until they installed infrastructure to receive it's data remotely. This unit keeps two tallies: one labeled DEL, one labeled REC. On my monthly bill, the increase in DEL from the previous month less the increase in REC from the previous month determines my use. Nowhere on my bill does it show what my REC accumulation total was the month before. I've had to track that separately in a spreadsheet.

That "only tallies forward" programming is why they recommend you only run your system for testing purposes until they swap your meter. Try not to "pay" to have too many kWh hauled away, while you wait.
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Old 01-01-17, 11:01 AM   #126
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Correct, the dumb smart meters are programmed to detect any power flow and count upwards.
Any power you generate that goes onto the power grid is counted as consumption and you pay for it as if you used it to power your house.

Just because something is new doesn't automatically mean it's a better deal for you and me, aka the proletariat. It's more likely a better deal only for the bourgeoisie.
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Old 01-04-17, 05:49 PM   #127
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Came home from work today to find a new NET meter installed!!

Looks like it flashes between a "credit" and "debit" kwh displays. One is at 00000 and the other at 00001.

Fired up my panels and with our cloud cover and the sun setting we are only making 34 watts...

System will be left on from now on and it should be interesting to track it's performance.

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Old 01-04-17, 05:56 PM   #128
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Here is the sum total of my testing so far:

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Old 01-04-17, 07:16 PM   #129
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It is a very exciting day when you get the meter!
It never gets old seeing the credit increase.
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Old 01-06-17, 01:00 PM   #130
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Quote:
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Managed to get my dashboard up and running today!

https://monitoringpublic.solaredge.c...use#/dashboard

Not much action as I'm not allowed to do much more than "testing" until the net meter is set. I need to finish labeling and call for a final inspection. Its hard to get labels to stick in the cold snap we are having. Supposed to be 8F for a low tonight. (-13C)

This project has sure stirred up alot of interest among my friends about solar...
I was trying to see how it was producing but the link does not seem to work anymore.

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