Can anyone advise me on how to read the digital power meter recently installed by SPAusnet when I had a solar array put on my roof?
My supplier (Origin Energy) is not forthcoming on the subject - can't be read by the consumer they say........
The total power register(3)and the offpeak booster for the HWS register(7) are obvious but there are 5 other registers (4,6,13,14 and 16) measuring something and I can't correlate these readings with those that are stored in the Fronius PV inverter.
Any Help??
Digital power meters
(10 posts) (5 voices)-
TomC
MemberPosted Friday 11 Jul 2008 @ 9:42:15 am from IP # -
TomC
MemberSPAusnet has at last given me the details on digital power meters:
Register 3; Total import power(kwh)
Register4: imports 7am-11pm Mon-Fr
Register6: imports - all other times inc weekends
Register7: total off peak Hot water
Register13: total exports
Register14: exports 7am-11pm Mon-Sun
Register16: exports-all other timesPosted Friday 22 Aug 2008 @ 12:14:13 pm from IP # -
TB
MemberEnergex (in Qld) just installed an EM1000 meter at my place today. The button on the front doesn't do anything so far, but that might be because it hasn't yet recorded enough data to show anything useful. Or possibly the unit's been programmed not to show anything other than the total imports. We don't have time-of-day pricing up here.
I went hunting around the internet for info about the meter. It actually records nearly 300 days worth of data in 30 minute intervals. I'd love to be able to pull that data out and analyse it for myself but the devices required to interface with the meter's ANSI Type 2 optical port seem to start at around US$400!
Posted Tuesday 26 Aug 2008 @ 12:18:14 pm from IP # -
Sunshine
MemberNot sure what meter type TomC has, but here is some information for TB which will also be helpful for anyone which as an AMPY EM1000 digital meter installed at their premises.
To read your AMPY EM1000 digital meter, scroll through the meter's display register by pressing the Scroll button located on the top right-hand side of the meter. To move forward through the display register you will need to press the scroll button each time.
The tabe below shows the various functions your standard single phase direct connected meter (EM1000, 1P2W, 100A-Code 0200) will display.
Display Meter Read Information
1st Display Total kWh
2nd Display Total kWh - Peak
3rd Display Total kWh - Off Peak
4th Display Total kWh - Weekday shoulder
5th Display Total kWh - Weekend shoulder
6th Display Voltage
7th Display Current
8th Display Power factor
9th Display Display test
10th Display Time
11th Display DatePosted Sunday 23 Nov 2008 @ 11:07:35 am from IP # -
TomC
MemberMy meter is an EM1200, which I gather you need if you are exporting power back to the grid. It has two "data banks" (my terminology) which you can scroll through.
To date it would seem to me that I have exported 143Kwh since my solar panels were installed. There was great confusion when the meter was first installed and we got a very strange bill which I queried and which was then altered to a new figure (Origin said they had software problems) which was different but didn't seem to make much sense. I paid it and am now waiting for the next account.............Posted Thursday 4 Dec 2008 @ 11:26:57 am from IP # -
Sunshine
MemberTomC, I got my new meter installed a few weeks ago to measure the amount of power fed back into grid, and it was the EM1000, so it looks like both EM1000 and EM1200 can measure both import and export. The display continually toggles every 3-4 seconds showing both "import" and "export" meter readings. The export direction has a minus sign in front of the digits.
Posted Friday 16 Jan 2009 @ 10:39:10 pm from IP # -
TomC
MemberSunshine,
The EM1200 does read both ways, after 9 months Origin Energy has got its act together and last week sent us a bill backdated to March 08 and what is more, seemingly correct account! In Victoria you pay for imports at two rates - on peak (7AM - 11PM Mon to Fri) and off peak (all other times). Registers 4 and 6 measure this.
You get credits for exports at the same rate (up until now at 20 cents/KWH and after 1 Jan, 60 cents/KWH) no matter when they are generated. Register 13 measures this.
I had wondered how they would calculate the bill ie. whether the exports would be treated on the basis of a billing period (3 months) or at some other time basis, but it is in real time. It is best therefore to try and minimise any power usage while the solar array is working if you wish to maximise the return and then only use mains power during the off peak period if you can. In our case the heavy power usage is the fridge and water pumping from the tank watering the vegetable plot and the rest of the garden. The fridge we can't do much about but it is sensible to pump the water in the middle of the night, so I have set up timers to do this.Posted Monday 19 Jan 2009 @ 11:16:22 am from IP # -
Buzzman
MemberMight have answered my own question. See doc at this link.
http://www.countryenergy.com.au/asset/cms/pdf/contestableWorks/CEOM8014_53.pdf
Esp. from p11 onward...
Posted Sunday 3 Oct 2010 @ 6:12:03 am from IP #
