Hi All - We run into smart meters before we install PV here in CA all the time. The smart meter hardware is typically bidirectional in that the arrow on the display will indicate which direction power is flowing. I say "typically" because there seems to be several meter brands that the utility is using and I haven't necessarily verified all of them.
However, in PG&E territory some stage of the software processing doesn't seem to register negative kWh readings properly. In other words, if the PV system produces more power than used in the billing period then the bills get wonky. We've seen bills skyrocket because the negative reading is read as a complete reset of the meter which would indicate that nearly 100,000 kWh were used. That's one reason why it is best to keep the system off until official interconnection occurs. Lastly, I've verified with PG&E that the bidirectional solar meters currently used for net metering are the same as the standard smart meters but just have different programming. Smart meter programming is not currently active for net metered solar clients in the PG&E territory. That's a mouthful! Best, August -----Original Message----- From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Mark Frye Sent: Monday, June 13, 2011 8:14 PM To: 'RE-wrenches' Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] smart meters/bidirectional Jay, I recently ran a smartmeter prior to changing out to a NEMS meter here in California (PG&E). <for test purposes only of course> I saw the energy flow indicator reverese direction and after a period of time, the kWH reading also decreased so I was pretty confident that the smartmeter was behaving the same as to old dics meters. Mark Frye Berkeley Solar Electric Systems 303 Redbud Way Nevada City, CA 95959 (530) 401-8024 www.berkeleysolar.com -----Original Message----- From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of jay peltz Sent: Monday, June 13, 2011 8:10 PM To: RE-wrenches Subject: [RE-wrenches] smart meters/bidirectional HI All, Say are the new California smart meters bi-directional? A recent install "test" showed the meter resister a negative watt indication, but I couldn't run it long enough to see if the KWH went backwards. thanks, jay peltz power _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
