solar power installed anyone know to....

we recently had solar power installed to our home, they come a few weeks ago to connect it to the grid,My problem is this how do i now read the power meter as it jumps around all the time from 125 kwh back to 7kwh and then make up to 135kw.would like to know which one is right so i can work out the bill.

this is the display on the inverter right and not the actual electricity meeter???

the display on the actual electricity meter

Do you mean it's flicking through screens? This is a new digital meter I assume? They will often flick through a) total energy use/production b) energy use for the day c) power at that moment
there should be a little button on the side which you can press to cycle through the displays

yes that is right the screen of the electricty meter keeps changing but cannot see any buttons to press thought,yes it is a digital meter but not a new one still the same meter we always had

ok the meter is a digtal one the type is edmi atlas 2000-1010 with energex
these are the different readings
rcd 00233
rec 0030
rad 0098
rbd 0018
does anyone know what the codes mean please help

yvette, there shoud be two buttns on the right hand side of the digital display marked "Billing Reset" and "Display Select". Is that what you have? If so, these should be the codes;

01 tot – total consumption
05 rad – peak consumption
10 rbd – shoulder consumption
020 rcd – off peak consumption
040 rec – solar energy back to grid


SK

Well I'm confused.

If you do not have a NEW import/export meter but have the same digital meter as previous, and your solar system is switched ON you will be billed for the ammount your system feeds back into the grid as USAGE and your electricity bill will DOUBLE. You must have an import/export meter installed to correct this

^^^ This is not correct. There are parts of QLD that are not yet ready for a smart meter upgrade, so she may not have to change the meter completely.

A new bi-directional meter will be added to the existing digital meter there.

Yvette - I'll PM you, I have a some stuff at work I can email you

OK I stand corrected I was speaking of SA type meters, and forgot you do everything different in Qld LOL.

Just to rub salt in the wound - Energex don't charge for the meter changeover/upgrade up there either. Unlike ETSA's insane fee. *shudder*

Yes its a bitter pill paying over $400 for something you will never own. ETSA is currently months behind in meter change overs, because the guy with a horse and cart can only do so much. And unless you constantly chase them for an appointment, they develop a very short memory and forget about you.

No wonder we are regarded as a backwater! --- Oops shouldnt say too much about 'water'. Sorry

well i am still confused because I donot know how to read the meter.If rec stands for power baCK to the grid well they have really got it wrong.how do they read the solar part if it is not on the meter

Is there anyone you can get to physically explain this to you in person, as you dont seem to understand things here

no there is noone i really think we are being ripped off thought

not exactly. Have you done research into the amount of energy that is required to produce the solar panels. Why do you think they r so expensive. I am not against solar. I have them at my own house. But the equation is not as simple as people make out.
But it has been good to see that the amount of energy required to make solar panels have dropped over the last 10 years or so.

All present day renewable technology has a hydrocarbon platform.

Solar panels require rare earth materials and extremely energy intense production processes.
Not to mention distribution and maintenance.

Wind turbines are at present energy negative.

What is important is net surplus energy.

No renewable technology you see today has increased net energy.

Shall I bite?

This may in part be true but are you supposing its less worse than oil or much worse? By the sounds of it you believe its no better than oil and fossil fuels. One day soon the factories in China and Germany are powered by the very things they make and at least in Germany 30% of it already is. Most rural towns have their own energy supply next to tulips and wheat. We are way behind! China is spending what amounts to Australia's GDP 3 times over on renewables this year alone. China has no choice, its coal pits are almost depleted and the cost of energy is increasing, they are also considering not building new Nuke plants but instead perusing total renewable energy. Australia is being told great big ones for the sake of oil and coal interests.

The last comment is not correct. Spain, Germany, Denmark, Norway, parts of the USA - yes America, Canada are saturated with renewable energy. So much so they are undercutting the fossil fuel and Nuke energy market by orders of magnitudes. Some states can't even give it away.

Remember, electricity is energy and energy is a tradeable commodity. You don't think AGL go out and bang in Wind Farms not expecting a return do you? Australia also decreased its energy demand even though the economy was expanding which should have produced a net increase in demand. The PV, SHW, energy efficiency and insulation program actually worked reducing net demand by 7%. A + B = something around C. It might be politically risky with Murdoch rags willing to shovel hate at everything not produced by their mates in the liberal party but the outcomes is somewhat less than half the cost of building new energy for the same outcome. That is not something you will read in The Australian.



And Mores law may still apply...

Incorrect. There is no current renewable technology (oxymoron) which has positive EROI globally. What you have to described is the distribution of apparent returns.

Ok, so you are describing this

EROI as in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_ret ... y_invested

So what you are saying is renewables (ok sustainable) are not producing more energy per unit that that which it takes to make them?

Why even mention this? Are you expecting we should abandon them for short term gains?

Over unity: Not found.