Do Smart Meters Work With Solar Panels

Smart meters and solar.

Do smart meters work with solar panels.

With smart meters utilities can measure and value your solar production any way the regulators let them. Answer when your solar pv system is installed you may need to have a new meter installed. 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. In many situations when the changeover to smart meters take place the new meters are not initially set up to properly measure flow going out from the house.

At the moment you can t use the smart meter to measure the energy you create through your solar panels. It was previously the case that some smart meters were not compatible with solar panels but the new generation of smart meter being rolled out across the country known as the smets2 is compatible with all solar panels. Of the 18 who did have a smart electricity meter fitted more than half 53 told us they d had problems with measuring electricity generated and exported since their smart meter was installed. But some firms can now support smart meters if you have solar panels and more improvements are in the pipeline.

In most utility regions smart meters now also record the energy production of your residential solar power system. Furthermore the same is valid for the export of solar energy back to the grid. 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. 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.

In a survey of 1 265 solar panel owners 5 of those who were offered or applied for a smart meter were told by their energy firm they couldn t have one because of their solar panels. For example according to its website smart meter installations for san diego gas electric customers with solar net energy metering systems began in november 2010. If you have a traditional accumulation meter with a spinning disk this will need to be replaced with an interval meter or smart meter. This may change in the future but there are no details at the moment around how or when.

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. Smart meters have been designed to be able to work with solar panels and other microgeneration. They may have added a second meter or replaced the one you had.