Not getting free electricity with PV panels.

[SolarCity]

The PV system needs connecting on the LOAD side of the meter. It is currently connected to the SUPPLY side. To be honest, even a five-week-wonder electrician will be able to spot it straight away. Probably just a mistake when they installed it.

 

[moggy1968]

whoaaa there!!
the picture is of your main meter, not the PV meter which is above it.
can you post a piccie of the PV meter.
More of an issue is it looks to me as though that henley block (the big brown junction box) is actually bypassing the main meter. As abbove this is then feeding into the supply side of your main fuseboard (it would appear)It looks like the meter tails run from the fuse to the block, then to the PV system and the meter. That means you've bypassed the meter, and thats a criminal offense!
It's hard to see from the piccie, can you try and get a piccie flat on so I can trace the cable routing better.

Not the tidiest of jobs TBH
must have been installed by a time served spark eh solarcity!:wink_smile:

 

[SolarCity]

whoaaa there!!
the picture is of your main meter, not the PV meter which is above it.
can you post a piccie of the PV meter.

This is a rent-a-roofer. The PV meter is irrelevant to this problem.

 

[moggy1968]

I know, what I'm getting at though is that the main meter has been bypassed (it would appear).
Meanwhile, as I think your suggesting, it appears the PV is possibly charging the meter as it's feeding from the Henley block onto the supply side.

 

[Earthstore]

I just made the photo bigger, and followed the curly tails, and you are right, it looks like the PV is connected in between the main fuse and the supply meter, you can follow the tails from the supply meter up to CU if you look carefully.

Also where has the fuse seal gone?

It does make you wonder how many more installs have been done like this on the rent a roof schemes...

 

[Del Boy]

In your example, this could be either

a) 200W being imported = 2.2kW usage minus 2kW generation
b) 200W being exported = 1.8kW usage minus 2kW generation

... or c) The muppet of the rent-a-roofer company has wired up your generation to the supply side of your import meter, so you are "importing" 2.2kW... 200W on the normal wire, and 2kW of your own generation. D'oh!!!

Missed that one! I actually can't believe that to be honest. I should stop assuming that even the basics are done right all the time.

I wonder what this means for your bill, surely with this evidence, E.ON will have to estimate your usage for that period based off previous bills. I would be expecting the rent-a-roofer to be stumping up some cash for that.

I'm glad you've managed to get the help you wanted on here.

 

[SolarCity]

I wonder what this means for your bill, surely with this evidence, E.ON will have to estimate your usage for that period based off previous bills. I would be expecting the rent-a-roofer to be stumping up some cash for that.

It won't affect anything apart from the electricity that is generated not giving any advantage to him. He will still use it but the meter will read it - therefore not being free.

 

[Del Boy]

Ah ofcourse. Should've thought about that a little bit more. Silly me!

 

[nyi]

Ah ofcourse. Should've thought about that a little bit more. Silly me!

Dear all,

Sorry for the late reply. I contacted them and they came around and had a look at it. They read this forum. But they are still insisting that their work was done properly. But they can't answer my simple (and common sense) question - "why my meter is still going up while I'm using less energy than I'm producing at a given time?"
I told them that I will get a second opinion. And they told me that if someone touches and changes their job they won't be responsible for guranttee. And they won't do anything for me.
Can someone help me what to do next? This forum has been very useful and eductional. Many, many thanks to all of you.

I'm just a layman and not a electrician. But I think I'm unfairly treated.

I'm in Norwich. But isntaller was from cambridgeshire


Regards,

 

[Earthstore]

This is how it should be installed, lets assume they are using a henly block (the box that joins the large wires together)

Your mains fuse>your mains meter>henly block>pv system>Your consumer unit

What you have is; Mains fuse>PV system>your meter>your consumer unit.

Not only is it wrong because you will get no benefit from your PV it is also illegal because while the PV is on standby at night it will not be going through your meter as it has been bypassed, therefore the PV company are stealing supply from the Grid.

Do not be alarmed, if they think this is correct, contact your DNO (the people that own the grid in your area), and ask them to pop around and have a look, explain to them that you have a PV system, if you are lucky they may have someone with some PV knowledge that works for them.

I hope this helps.

 

[Gary K]

. And they told me that if someone touches and changes their job they won't be responsible for guranttee.

What Garuantee? , if its rent a roof, you loose nothing if the system goes down. I suspect they will come round pretty quick if it stops producing.

 

[moggy1968]

have just PM'd you

 

[nyi]

What Garuantee? , if its rent a roof, you loose nothing if the system goes down. I suspect they will come round pretty quick if it stops producing.

Exactly. I told the installer I will switch the system off. But the installer is not the one that is getting the feed-in tariff. Energy reduction UK is the one that commisioned the installer for installation. I have also reported the problem to them today.

 

[nyi]

The installer has agreed to come and sort it on next Tuesday.
Thank you all.

 

[nyi]

The installer has agreed to come and sort it on next Tuesday.
Thank you all.

Now they have done the correction. Now my digital meter flashes "rEd". They did not know what it means. So I rang e.on, my supplier, and e.on said "rEd" means "reverse energy detected".
Now my meter won't clock up if I am using less than my PVs are generating.

I would like to say "Than You" to all of you.