My brother in law just got a solar system and he had the PG&E standard SmartMeter. When his system was on and net-generating, the SmartMeter just reads zero. PG&E is adamant that your solar system should only be turned on for testing immediately after installation. You "must" wait for the Permission to Operate (PTO) letter and NEM (Net Energy Metering) meter to be installed before operating your solar system. His installer was kinda like "wink-wink, nod-nod, now you have to keep it turned off, okay?".
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California: Solar with PG&E smart meter
- Thread starter Merrill
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- California USA
JPP
Active Member
...hmmmm...interesting...no winks or nods from my SC installers, but a specific admonition that it would ADD to my usage, not subtract.
I just got my meter changed this week to "Net" metering because of my solar (done by Real Goods - the first to sell solar in California in 1978). I also asked for and got the EV-A rate from PG&E at the same time. So far what I produce totally offsets what I use. Fun to see that meter run backwards all day. I got a 224v outlet installed in the garage which gives me 40 amps to the car... and I don't expect to see much of anything for a bill.
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Make that a "240v outlet".
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Make that a "240v outlet".
dandelot
Member
We have a proper reversing PGE smart meter and got TED5000 to give an independent
view of power use. And power generation (28 solar panels, the last installed
Sept 2014 so we have no idea yet what highest generation will be).
Got 31.5 KWH generated today. New high!
Obviously Timothy is right: winter generation much lower.
Tesla had just a few miles yesterday so net negative PGE use today.
PGE smartmeter does seem to read accurately.
view of power use. And power generation (28 solar panels, the last installed
Sept 2014 so we have no idea yet what highest generation will be).
Got 31.5 KWH generated today. New high!
Obviously Timothy is right: winter generation much lower.
Tesla had just a few miles yesterday so net negative PGE use today.
PGE smartmeter does seem to read accurately.
After my 15kW solar installation (done via SF startup 1BOG, now owned by the Canadians), I decided to test this with my existing smart meter while waiting for net metering, by downloading the data each day. PG&E couldn't tell me if they needed to replace the meter or "update" it via software. Before the net metering went into effect, it correctly metered backwards when net energy was produced, and ran the total kWh down on the display. However I got no credit on the billing for <0 usage so I made sure to charge car and run air conditioning during peak periods to use the solar production. Net metering then went into effect via software update (not clear whether downloaded something to meter or just something on PG&E's side). It was obvious from the downloaded data and the display on their website when this happened, as you could see negative numbers starting at the transition point. Then PG&E only came out several weeks later to confirm that it was all set and I could "turn it on." Message for anyone reading this (for you hopefully it is irrelevant by now) is to monitor it online if you already have a smart meter.
I've had PG&E E-7 TOU metering since I bought my house 20-some years ago. (Previous owner was into making pottery and had a kiln.) Apparently TOU uses a different meter than non-TOU, because I was the last in my neighborhood to get a Smart Meter. The installer said it was because of the TOU. When I recently installed solar panels, the existing meter continued to be used. I guess they simply needed to send a command to it to enable net metering.
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