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

Mon Apr 14 00:03:56 PDT 2003

Hello Mo

Did you check all of their appliances?  Perhaps the refrigerator's on
the way out!  Or the freezer?  Smells like an appliance related load
issue or the "oh, we forgot to tell you about the ________ appliance?
Or, our 6 kids are back from college and they brought home their mini
refrigerators!..or their ac units from the salvation army?  Aunty is in
town and she takes 3 showers a day. 
Do they have solar hot water?  Heating element bad? Timer out of
sequence? Thermostat working properly? 
Or, did we tell you about the new EV we just bought?

Sorry for the Sunday sarcasm.  Being an electrical contractor in the
Aloha state and the garden (garbage) state, I have always been surprised
as to the lack of education on the public's behalf as to what people are
actually consuming in terms of energy. It seems it is easier to write
the drug dealer ( utility) a check every month than to actually wonder
where the watts are going.  Side note: I have a client, albeit ultra
well to do, who called me recently at his Hawaiian estate complaining
about his $2000 a month electric bill.  Water features, waterfall, 8
person hot tub, 68 degree museum of a 12,000 sq ft home, lights on like
a night club etc.  I did some load assessment and we cut back immensely
just by adjusting his timers for his perpetually theatrical performances
to impress his friends.
I keep a brand meter in my van for constant reference.  It helps with
loads 1850 an under and allows me to plug it in on suspect items and
return a week or so later to get some historical data. The trusty fluke
87 is always at hand to back me up in times were the load exceeds the
brands wattage.

I have also called the utility out for meter calibration 7 times in the
last 4 years.  Each time the utility was right on and the customer
wasn't.  Perhaps your adopted client is a victim of a bad meter.  Sounds
like more investigation is in order.

My 2 coconuts/\

Keith Cronin
Island Energy Solutions
318 A Kuulei Road
Kailua, Hawaii 96734
808-262-3268 Tel
808-263-0338 Fax
www.islandenergy.net

-----Original Message-----
From: Mo Rousso [mailto:mrousso at heliopower.com] 
Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2003 8:12 PM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: Grid-Tie Stumper (for me) [RE-wrenches]

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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