Another issue is with our local mechanical meters is no matter which way they run they are adding KWHR so to leave it running you are costing your customer $ not saving them $. We test to see that is does back feed for 5 minutes and then turn it off till the net meter is installed.
Dana Orzel Great Solar Works, Inc E - d...@solarwork.com V - 970.626.5253 F - 970.626.4140 C - 970.209.4076 web - www.solarwork.com "Responsible Technologies for Responsible People since 1988" Do not ever believe anything, but seriously trust through action. -----Original Message----- From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Dave Click Sent: Friday, August 12, 2011 9:15 AM To: RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] mechanical vs. electronic kwh meter I just asked a guy I know in utility metering, and he confirms that there's no basis for the utility's concern. Their claim that backfeeding is a safety hazard could be an attempt to dissuade some non-PV folks from flipping their meters to steal power. Or that could be their justification to charge the customer for the new electronic meter (some utilities do this, apparently). As an anti-theft precaution, some mechanical meters don't actually spin backwards- so whether you're importing or exporting a 1kW, after an hour your counter has ticked up by one. So just because it's a mechanical meter doesn't mean that you should necessary leave it running until the utility installs that bidirectional electronic meter. On 2011/8/12 9:45, Kirk Herander wrote: > Hello, > > I am now in a debate with the metering dept. of a local utility. They > don't want a PV system to be energized and tested until a bidirectional > electronic meter is installed. They insist that an old plain Jane > mechanical meter can be damaged and is a safety concern if power is > pushed through it (its running backwards) to the grid. I have never > heard of, witnessed, or been told this by any utility or AHJ inspector > until now. Have any of you ever? > > I don't know the reason for their paranoia. I assume that many utility > districts don't to this day install bidirectional electronic meters. And > rely on the original mechanical meter to count backwards reliably and > safely. > > Kirk Herander > > VT Solar, LLC > > dba Vermont Solar Engineering > > NABCEP^TM Certified installer Charter Member > > NYSERDA-eligible Installer > > VT RE Incentive Program Partner > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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-wren ches.org > > List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrench es.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-wren ches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrench es.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