I installed Tesla Solar panels in May this year. My utility bills reflected solar energy in July. My bill in June was very similar to my last June number. My utility bills went up about 20% compared to same time period last year since July given nothing changed in my house. Home energy consumption based on my Tesla app is doubled of my past consumption at the same time period. I called customer service many times. They said there was no issue
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My utility bills went up after installing solar panels and home energy usage is doubled based on Tesla app
- Thread starter TradeDC
- Start date
In many areas, installing solar forces a plan change. Ignore consumption based on the tesla app for a minute, look at consumption based on what your utility says. Its very (very very) common for people to use more power when they get solar cause everyone in the house stops conserving.. because " we got solar, right?"
Without a lot (LOT LOT) more data from you, I am not sure what feedback you would expect from us here.
My June consumption based on meter reading is 1300kw and App shows 2700kw. My solar production plus power wall account for 50%. I don’t even have anything which could consume that much energy. In December, App shows my consumption is 1300 kw, which is exactly same as my summer consumption with AC. My normal consumption in winter should be 0.3-0.4 KWH. Now it shows as 1.4-1.6 consistently. I turned off almost everything from power panel. It is still showing 1.5kwh home consumption. Dominion energy told me they received nothing from solar. My utility bills actually make sense if i don’t have solar. App shows solar produced 50% of my consumption
Sorry, silly question. Did electric company install bidirectional meter? Regular meters count electricity export as debit.
Take a look at Tesla app while PV production is measurable and exceeds house consumption and compare number for export in app with what meter shows. Bidirectional meters rotate different measurements and there is also direction of electricity flow. These measurements are since meter installation so you need to take reading at the same time you record Tesla app numbers. Your numbers are illogical so something is not right.
Verify that meter shows direction of electricity flow to the grid when Tesla app shows that it is exporting. Second compare electricity export and import numbers for a week between meter readings and app.
In theory it is Tesla’s responsibility to investigate the problem but unfortunately customer service is not their strong suit.
The reason I asked about bidirectional meter installation because your table of meter readings is consistent across 2021 and 2022. My expectation would be for reading to reset to 0 when electric company installs a new bidirectional meter, after PV system installation.
Take a look at Tesla app while PV production is measurable and exceeds house consumption and compare number for export in app with what meter shows. Bidirectional meters rotate different measurements and there is also direction of electricity flow. These measurements are since meter installation so you need to take reading at the same time you record Tesla app numbers. Your numbers are illogical so something is not right.
Verify that meter shows direction of electricity flow to the grid when Tesla app shows that it is exporting. Second compare electricity export and import numbers for a week between meter readings and app.
In theory it is Tesla’s responsibility to investigate the problem but unfortunately customer service is not their strong suit.
The reason I asked about bidirectional meter installation because your table of meter readings is consistent across 2021 and 2022. My expectation would be for reading to reset to 0 when electric company installs a new bidirectional meter, after PV system installation.
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I also notice that on OPs bill, the "meter read" column from number does not change from the july 14 date to the december 12th date, showing the exact same value of "42092". if thats actually supposed to be the meter, then it is impossible for it not to have changed at all from july to december.
OP you likely need to start with examining why your utility supposedly has read a meter that has not changed for 5 months, and also why the date goes from july, to september to december (unless its you who did that to the data you shared).
OP you likely need to start with examining why your utility supposedly has read a meter that has not changed for 5 months, and also why the date goes from july, to september to december (unless its you who did that to the data you shared).
Sorry, silly question. Did electric company install bidirectional meter? Regular meters count electricity export as debit.
Take a look at Tesla app while PV production is measurable and exceeds house consumption and compare number for export in app with what meter shows. Bidirectional meters rotate different measurements and there is also direction of electricity flow. These
measurements are since meter installation so you need to take reading at the same time you record Tesla app numbers. Your numbers are illogical so something is not right.
Verify that meter shows direction of electricity flow to the grid when Tesla app shows that it is exporting. Second compare electricity export and import numbers for a week between meter readings and app.
In theory it is Tesla’s responsibility to investigate the problem but unfortunately customer service is not their strong suit.
The reason I asked about bidirectional meter installation because your table of meter readings is consistent across 2021 and 2022. My expectation would be for reading to reset to 0 when electric company installs a new bidirectional meter, after PV system installation.
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Somehow, dominion energy site doesn’t show as much detail after they changed to bidirectional meter. It is good observation about meter reading. I will follow up with them.
Numbers in picture make more sense since electricity consumption reading starts from zero around July 14th (presumably bidirectional meter installation date). Export number is suspect since 12 KWh for whole month in July is ridiculously small. What did you set PWs reserve level to? Lower reserve reduces export number since it increases self consumption.
If you know someone capable of opening breaker panel and attaching current clamping meter it will give current electricity consumption per line. Do you have one line electric diagram that is typically required for a permit? Tesla usually emails you a copy when they submit documents to local municipality. If you find one and decide to post here remove your personal information. This diagram will help people to understand how main electric meter, Tesla gateway, PWs and solar inverters are wired together.
Based on your posted PV production numbers I estimate size of your system at around 7-9KW on AC side (9-12KW on DC side). Monthly export numbers for a system of this size do not line up. This is grid balance for my 22.4KW DC side system for month of July:
If you know someone capable of opening breaker panel and attaching current clamping meter it will give current electricity consumption per line. Do you have one line electric diagram that is typically required for a permit? Tesla usually emails you a copy when they submit documents to local municipality. If you find one and decide to post here remove your personal information. This diagram will help people to understand how main electric meter, Tesla gateway, PWs and solar inverters are wired together.
Based on your posted PV production numbers I estimate size of your system at around 7-9KW on AC side (9-12KW on DC side). Monthly export numbers for a system of this size do not line up. This is grid balance for my 22.4KW DC side system for month of July:
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I have the same utility as the OP (Dominion) and can explain the bill ...
Dominion never reduces the meter reading on the bill, keeping a "high-water" mark on it. The max reading on the bill will remain unchanged as long as you produce more than you use. The meter should still reverse if you are net producing, so if you want the actual current reading you need to look at the meter itself.
Have you ever seen the meter run backwards (e.g. today was a great sunny day in our area)?
I have a 8.8kw solar system with power wall. I set power wall to 5%. It was 0% for quick a while. I couldn’t find the document you mentioned. Right now, neither Tesla nor Dominion agreed to send anyone to check. Tesla said it was meter reading problem. Dominion said there was no solar production.
I doubt that you get a lot of economic benefit from PWs, especially in winter, so no loss in changing PW reserve to 100%. It will simplify the system by eliminating one variable. I forgot all I-210 meter codes. I think importing meter reading is 04 and exporting is 10. There are 5 or 6 counters in the meter with each displaying for a few seconds. 888 code in meter indicates end of cycle. Since readings are aggregate (since meter installation time when everything starts at zero) the only way to match Tesla app daily or weekly numbers is to record meter reading at start of day/week, I.e. if you record 04 and 10 counters tomorrow morning it will gave “base” numbers, for weekly export/import meter readings. Tesla’s app week starts on Monday.
It is hard to say who is more likely to be at fault here but you do have substantial economic incentive to apply pressure on both parties to find the source of the discrepancy. Since you paid Tesla to install the system it is their responsibility to resolve this type of discrepancy. Sometimes Tesla SA you were dealing with during ordering process might help to escalate a support issue. Overall dealing with Tesla support is a real pain of the neck.
It is hard to say who is more likely to be at fault here but you do have substantial economic incentive to apply pressure on both parties to find the source of the discrepancy. Since you paid Tesla to install the system it is their responsibility to resolve this type of discrepancy. Sometimes Tesla SA you were dealing with during ordering process might help to escalate a support issue. Overall dealing with Tesla support is a real pain of the neck.
The meter reading on the bill stayed at “high watermark” from prior meter, which is very confusing to customers. It might stay at this HWM for several years before new meter gets to 42092 KWh.
iI we ignore importing counter carry over from old meter to new one there is still something that is not right. Meter maintains 2 separate counters. One for import and one for export. If PV and PWs fully cover house electricity consumption all the time this counter will stay the same. It is highly unlikely to happen in real life, especially in fall and winter.
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My meter never shows 10 which is exporting to Grid even the app shows PW charged 100% and exporting to grid
I have a different model of meter so my codes might not match yours but here is my sequence:
4
5
6
7
10
888
If you call electric company customer service and get CSR who knows solar customers they would be able to help you to read your meter‘s counters. I called my electric company only once but as soon as the first CSR noticed that my account has solar he transferred me to a CSR who is trained in solar nuances.
Also we assume that you do have net metering with full credit for exported electricity.
