Grid-Tie Stumper (for me) [RE-wrenches]

[William Miller]

Mo:

I have two words of advice:  private meter.  They are cheap, reliable and
easy to install.  Put one between the inverter and it's feed.  Wire it to
increment forward as the inverter back feeds the grid.  If the inverter is
producing energy, it has to be going somewhere!

PS:  This will meter not measure consumption, but wiring a meter for that
is usually more difficult.

William




At 11:12 PM 4/13/2003 -0700, you wrote:
>Wrenches,
>
>I¹ve encountered a situation that puzzles me.
>
>Around 2 months ago, I went on a service call to investigate a system whose
>performance was not meeting the homeowner¹s expectations.  This system was
>installed by another company and I had no knowledge of the installation
>prior to my visit.
>
>The system is composed of 1 SMA SWR2500U-SBD and 10 BP Solar SX-150S.  The
>owner claimed that their utility bill actually increased with the solar
>system operating.  I read their bills and the latter bills were indeed
>higher.  I looked at the meter and it appeared to be able to spin backwards
>without a problem.  Putting my trusty Fluke on the usual inverter terminals
>and wires showed appropriate numbers.
>
>I suggested that we needed to collect some data over the next billing period
>or two.  I suggested that we call Edison and request a physical meter read
>since it was conceivable that due to their locked gate and large dog
>estimated reads were occurring.  I further suggested that once the physical
>read was done, that the PV system be turned off and we collect some baseline
>data.  I was suspicious that their energy habits had changed and that their
>consumption had increased.  I asked them to be cognizant of their energy
>usage patterns and not to make any changes during the course of our trials.
>At the start of the next billing cycle, they were to continue using power in
>the same manner as the preceding billing period, but with the PV system back
>on.  Well, that period is now over and the bills are significantly higher
>again!  They are considering having their PV system removed from their home
>‹ not too cool.
>
>Any suggestions on other avenues to explore?  Could the PV system
>installation have caused some sort of path for those pesky electrons to
>disappear down?  Are aliens to blame??? :)
>
>Thanks in advance for any guidance ‹ I appreciate the collective wisdom
>available here.  I need to return to the home this coming week.
>
>Mo
>
>-- 
>Mo Rousso
>President
>HelioPower
>Renewable Energy Systems
>Remote Power Solutions
>mrousso at heliopower.com
>www.heliopower.com
>760.451.9374
>
>
>--
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
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__________________________________________________________________
William Miller
Miller Power and Communications
PO Box 50, Santa Margarita, CA 93453
Voice :805-438-5600     Fax: 805-438-4607	
email: wrmiller at slonet.org
http://millerpowerandcomm.com
License No. C-10-773985
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