Smart Meters, could cost you - a lot..

[Worcester]

5 years ago (was it really that long ago!!) I started a thread warning that you may lose out if you have smart meter fitted - Deemed Output - you may lose it if you have a Smart Meter fitted later on. - http://www.electriciansforums.co.uk/threads/deemed-output-you-may-lose-it-if-you-have-a-smart-meter-fitted-later-on.68315/

Well, I finally got an answer from Ofgem, and the answer is YES, if you have a Smart Meter you will move over to metered export, so anyone with an Immersun, iBoost, Solic 200 etc could well lose out - for the full text see here:

Do you have Solar PV? - Smart Meters - don’t get caught out - they could cost you a lot of money - https://www.facebook.com/notes/worcester-renewables/do-you-have-solar-pv-smart-meters-dont-get-caught-out-they-could-cost-you-a-lot-/1454691874603337/

 

[Gavin A]

however, at present afaik no company is paying export via the smart meter readings as none of them have the systems set up to do it and nobody is paying them to either set those systems up or run them.

And until the majority of solar owners have batteries, immersun etc then it would cost them more to implement this than it will save, so it's unlikely to happen (as long as someone in the chain of command grasps this point, which admittedly is a bit of a long shot).

 

[sean_ork]

I hope that having a smart meter fitted is soon made mandatory for those claiming the FiT - the deemed export was only ever a temporary measure anyway.

 

[Gavin A]

Thing is though, it works as a relatively low cost subsidy to encourage investment in batteries or immersion diversion devices which actually help to balance the grid.

Compared to the capacity market I'd expect it to work out significantly lower cost way of doing pretty much the same thing.

 

[Worcester]

Remember the government is quids on on deemed as MOST users export more than 50% - it's actually quite difficult to use 50% on a 4kWp system.

The mechanism will be very simple, it will be automatic the same as billing, the export will be read electronically and added /deducted to the generation meter readings, it will only require a tweak to the billing process.

In practice I suspect that they'll pay the 'leccy companies to monitor it for a 12-18 months - exactly as they did with EV Charging to work out whether they'll pay less or more overall if they go metered.

 

[Gavin A]

Remember the government is quids on on deemed as MOST users export more than 50% - it's actually quite difficult to use 50% on a 4kWp system.

I know, that's what I was referring to in the first post.

The mechanism will be very simple, it will be automatic the same as billing, the export will be read electronically and added /deducted to the generation meter readings, it will only require a tweak to the billing process.

not really, most of our customers have their FIT & export with good energy, and supply with multiple other companies.

How are Good Energy supposed to be obtaining the export readings?

I'm sure it's technically feasible, but probably fiendishly expensive to set up a system that ensures that all FIT providers can access the Export readings from the smart meters that are being operated by any other supply company.