How??

[rodgearing]

Can some one explain how the energy that isn't used by the house gets on to the grid?
The Output from the inverter is fed to the output side of the properties meter ie the input side of the consumer unit so.............
How does the excess energy make its way pass the meter onto the grid? Isn't there some electronics in the meter that stops 'feedback' bad term I guess.
OK so the excess energy makes its way thru the meter????? onto the gridso what does the meter do? I have heard that analogue meters (the ones that aren't digital!! ie have a whirring wheel and an analogue display) have been known to revolve backwards!!
We have a digital meter so does it allow current flow thru the meter onto the grid?

 

[dansk]

In simple terms yes - normally the flashing red LED will light up and stay constant red to indicate reverse current. Old style meters like mine do run backwards when exporting, true.

 

[Earthstore]

Yes, it just goes back through the meter, but as meters installed have no way of measuring export, only import from the grid you can not see it happening.
You are also correct in the some meters run backwards when exporting, some add the export to the import, and some digital meters come up with RED which means reverse energy detected, all customers should check their meters to see if any of the above are happening, if they are, they should contact their energy provider.

I hope this helps.

 

[Jacobbb]

Yes, it just goes back through the meter, but as meters installed have no way of measuring export, only import from the grid you can not see it happening.
You are also correct in the some meters run backwards when exporting, some add the export to the import, and some digital meters come up with RED which means reverse energy detected, all customers should check their meters to see if any of the above are happening, if they are, they should contact their energy provider.

I hope this helps.

Our meter at home comes up RED. Why should I contact my provider? I have opted in for the extra 3p back fed. I don't understand :-S

 

[yellowvanman]

Old style meters like mine do run backwards when exporting, true.

For some reason mine doesn't!

 

[dansk]

unlucky ;-) ive told em about it before any harps on about fraud.

 

[JulianC]

Isn't it the case that the older meters spin backwards under export, but don't decrease the meter reading?

 

[dansk]

not sure, but. mine physicaly reduces, but not getting excited, i use 11,000 kwh per annum and my pv is 1.44kwp, supplys about a tenth of what i need lol.

 

[series530]

To answer the first part of your question: it's often best to think of electricity as water. Water will always flow down hill. The analogy is the electricity will always flow downwards, that is, from a higher voltage to a lower voltage and, in general, that flow will result in a current (just like current flow in a river).

The grid is a huge reservoir with a virtually infinite capacity to provide power. Anything which draws power from it is a load and current will from from the reservoir into the load. In the case of PV, the current source (from the inverter) is set at a fractionally higher voltage than the grid so that power naturally flows from the inverter to the grid.

What about the meters? Think of them as water wheels in that they rotate proportionally to the current. More current, more rotation and more revolutions registered. In general though, they are designed to run in one direction only - the PV meter running in the opposite direction to the incoming main supply meter.

 

[GaryM]

Isn't it the case that the older meters spin backwards under export, but don't decrease the meter reading?

They definitely decrease.

 

[TedM]

There are a wide variety of older meters out there. Some will spin the disk backwards and decrement their registers, while others will just spin the disk backwards with the registers blocked from doing so. Some will decrement the register by a max 0.5 kWh when spinning backwards and then block any more.

 

[Earthstore]

Our meter at home comes up RED. Why should I contact my provider? I have opted in for the extra 3p back fed. I don't understand :-S

Just check that your Import meter (the one that you have always had that you pay your electricity bill from) reading is not going up while you are exporting,
Some meters purely by the way they manufactured run backwards, but some add the export to the meter reading and it can go unnoticed until you have you meter read and your bill is higher then before you had PV installed.
Some of course are fine.

I hope this helps.

 

[Jacobbb]

In simple terms yes - normally the flashing red LED will light up and stay constant red to indicate reverse current. Old style meters like mine do run backwards when exporting, true.

Ive seen an old style meter just vibrate. Like it wast allowing it to spin backwards. Surprised it didn't drive the customer mental hearing it during the day as it was very descrite to say the least :-/