How Does A Smart Meter Work With Solar Panels

The answer to this question depends up to a point on what you mean by interfere.

How does a smart meter work with solar panels.

Most smart meters will make a recording of your electricity exports on a half hourly basis allowing suppliers to adjust their rates based on nationwide demand. The main issues some people have reported when coping with a combination of solar panels and smart meters is that the meters connected to the solar panels are analogue meters or what we like to call dumb meters. With analogue meters the default is 1 1 net metering. Check whether your smart meter and in home display will work fully with them.

If you re getting a smart meter installed make sure that your supplier is aware you have solar panels. As part of recent government regulations every home that gets a new solar pv system installed needs a new digital meter to be installed in their meter box. Typically the screen notation with 001 shows power coming in and 002 shows power going out. Bi directional meters have three display screens.

They allow the consumer to see exactly how much energy they are using from their solar installations and how much they are importing from the grid. Solar panel owners should have a pv generation meter that shows how much electricity their system is generating. You produce excess energy it reduces the amount of energy measured on your bill by the same amount the meter spins backwards. A smart meter won t stop your solar panels working and generating electricity and it won t alter the amount of electricity you get to use.

Although you may already have a current smart meter installed at your property it would still need to be changed or altered to accomodate for a bi directional digital meter. One is a test screen where all lights are on. If you are on a net feed in tariff scheme your net meter measures your household s electricity and the electricity generated by your solar pv system together. Your electricity company reads the meter and calculates any surplus electricity fed back into the grid.

With smart meters utilities can measure and value your solar production any way the regulators let them. The second shows power coming in from the grid and the third shows power going out from your solar into the grid. The microgeneration source connected to the export smart meter will provide accurate information to the energy supplier to provide an accurate bill based on how much energy you have imported and exported. Furthermore the same is valid for the export of solar energy back to the grid.

Solar panels are designed to store energy and convert it so you can use it in your home. Most importantly the new smart meters work with solar panels and other photovoltaic systems.