Electric company is only giving 70% of solar I produce

[Anit767]

The first chart is from my Sunny Boy inverter. The second is from the electric company’s accounts. The last is from their website that shows my usage.

They have been ripping me off. What can I do? I’m in a coop. We don’t get to choose our provider here.

 

[Anit767]

You can see that the meter went -5kWh on the 27th. It should have been -20kWh.

 

[Lt.Dan]

What the MPPT brings in and what goes back to the grid can be 2 pretty big differences depending on efficiencies of things and how the solar system is setup. Try and absolutely verify that what you see is happening.

If its true, then call them up and say there is a discrepancy, and maybe the meter needs to be calibrated?

 

[Anit767]

What the MPPT brings in and what goes back to the grid can be 2 pretty big differences depending on efficiencies of things and how the solar system is setup. Try and absolutely verify that what you see is happening.

If its true, then call them up and say there is a discrepancy, and maybe the meter needs to be calibrated?

if they are charging me for 25kWh and I produced 35, that means I used around 60 kWh that day. I’m in a 5 year old 3 bedroom home. We never used 60 kWh before solar.

 

[Lt.Dan]

Well take the 24th for example, they billed you for 12kWh, they claim you used 38kWh (before solar), and you produced 35kWh. So in my eyes you used 38kWh, and produce 35kWh, meaning you have a 3kWh deficit, but they are billing you for 12kWh, or 9kWh more than you actually used.

This 9kWh might be from discrepancies in your equipment or their meter. Only way to find out is to verify yourself. If the discrepancy is on their end, I would assume they are responsible to get it fixed ASAP. But if your inverter claims it brought in 35kWh, and after 90% efficiency of converting to AC and sending it back, that is 31.5kWh. We're getting closer.

Now, if your Solar Agreement stated that they would only give you credits for 70% of what you used, then you are just SOL.

 

[Anit767]

Well take the 24th for example, they billed you for 12kWh, they claim you used 38kWh (before solar), and you produced 35kWh. So in my eyes you used 38kWh, and produce 35kWh, meaning you have a 3kWh deficit, but they are billing you for 12kWh, or 9kWh more than you actually used.

This 9kWh might be from discrepancies in your equipment or their meter. Only way to find out is to verify yourself. If the discrepancy is on their end, I would assume they are responsible to get it fixed ASAP. But if your inverter claims it brought in 35kWh, and after 90% efficiency of converting to AC and sending it back, that is 31.5kWh. We're getting closer.

Now, if your Solar Agreement stated that they would only give you credits for 70% of what you used, then you are just SOL.

I think the middle chart is confusing. The reading was taken at 1am. So it’s showing you the previous day’s usage.

24th
I generated 35kwh
i used 38kwh

i was billed 25kwh

assuming 10% loss.
38-31.5 =
6.5kwh (what I should have been billed)

that’s about 19kwh too much

 

[Anit767]

This might help.

what’s strange is how inconsistent the billing is. If the discrepancy was the same percentage every day, it would make sense.

 

[GregTR]

I'd buy an Emporia Vue and measure it myself in my own breaker box. It should give you a much more precise and accurate measure that you can compare to what you're getting.

I have compared my Vue measurement with my power company and I'm within 0.5% of their measurements. The setup is pretty cheap, you can have the 8 sensor kit for less than $150 and it should give you a good measure of real data. If you still see discrepancies with your meter you can talk to the power company and start investigating. I don't think you have enough data at your disposal to have a leg to stand on with your co-op at this point.

 

[Anit767]

I'd buy an Emporia Vue and measure it myself in my own breaker box. It should give you a much more precise and accurate measure that you can compare to what you're getting.

I have compared my Vue measurement with my power company and I'm within 0.5% of their measurements. The setup is pretty cheap, you can have the 8 sensor kit for less than $150 and it should give you a good measure of real data. If you still see discrepancies with your meter you can talk to the power company and start investigating. I don't think you have enough data at your disposal to have a leg to stand on with your co-op at this point.

I’ve never heard of that. I’ll get one. Thanks!

 

[Durk_2007]

I’ve never heard of that. I’ll get one. Thanks!

They are awesome!! Can do a lot with it

 

[Ampster]

I’ve never heard of that. I’ll get one. Thanks!

I love mine.

 

[Anit767]

Problem solved! Someone explained it to me. Here’s an updated chart..

 

[GregTR]

Nice! Always good to hear the resolution was simple as that!

 

[Anit767]

Nice! Always good to hear the resolution was simple as that!

I’m curious, since you have the emporia vue, what’s the loss when you compare the solar energy you produce vs what is actually sent to the panel? 10%?

 

[GregTR]

I’m curious, since you have the emporia vue, what’s the loss when you compare the solar energy you produce vs what is actually sent to the panel? 10%?

So that is a tricky question and not "that" easy to answer. Since I have a Sol-Ark 15K which sits firmly between my meter and my main panel, measuring solar production is a bit tricky and not as straight forward as it is for a simple AC coupled system that is tied to your breaker box with an extra breaker.

To get accurate measurements I will have to actually do some genuine excel gymnastics and pull data from multiple places mainly because the voltage on the grid side is not the same as the voltage is on the load side which causes up to 2% error in my measurement.

Today is the first day that I have battery backup on my system and I have grid interconnect agreement in place so I can actually use all my solar power one way or another. Give me a day or two to get the actual readings and figure out the math.

I actually have 5 Emporia Vue units at my house to give you an idea of the number of breakers/breaker boxes and the size of my install goes.

 

[houseofancients]

The first chart is from my Sunny Boy inverter. The second is from the electric company’s accounts. The last is from their website that shows my usage.

They have been ripping me off. What can I do? I’m in a coop. We don’t get to choose our provider here.

you aren't being ripped off...
your home always uses the generated electricity first, what's "left over" get exported
if you're using more than the total generated it will come from the grid, as will when the sun is not there

 

[DThames]

I'd buy an Emporia Vue and measure it myself in my own breaker box. It should give you a much more precise and accurate measure that you can compare to what you're getting.

I have compared my Vue measurement with my power company and I'm within 0.5% of their measurements. The setup is pretty cheap, you can have the 8 sensor kit for less than $150 and it should give you a good measure of real data. If you still see discrepancies with your meter you can talk to the power company and start investigating. I don't think you have enough data at your disposal to have a leg to stand on with your co-op at this point.

I have a Sense meter that is likely similar. It has current transformers for the service entrance and for the solar. It does all of the math and an show both produced and consumed, so you can get net gain or consumption from those numbers.

 

[fafrd]

The first chart is from my Sunny Boy inverter. The second is from the electric company’s accounts. The last is from their website that shows my usage.

They have been ripping me off. What can I do? I’m in a coop. We don’t get to choose our provider here.

Have you actually validated the accuracy of your solar power monitor by validating is with independent measurements.

When it finally occurred to me to measure actual solar current into my mains panel using a clamp meter, I discovered that my solar power gateway was exaggerating my solar production.

 

[Anit767]

Have you actually validated the accuracy of your solar power monitor by validating is with independent measurements.

When it finally occurred to me to measure actual solar current into my mains panel using a clamp meter, I discovered that my solar power gateway was exaggerating my solar production.

How much was it off?

 

[DThames]

Have you actually validated the accuracy of your solar power monitor by validating is with independent measurements.

When it finally occurred to me to measure actual solar current into my mains panel using a clamp meter, I discovered that my solar power gateway was exaggerating my solar production.

These little meters work and will record KWH up to 999. Put one on each leg of your inverter output to have something to compare with.