eGauge monitoring

[jm33561]

Hello All,

Recently purchased a solar system that included eGauge monitoring, and so far seems pretty slick. But I'm pretty new to the energy monitoring aspect and was wondering if anyone else here uses the same product that I could bounce some questions off and kinda of compare results too.

Mainly it seems that as my solar production goes up, so does my energy consumed even though nothing else is being turned on or used at that time. Seems odd to me, but I don't have anything to compare to, I've looked at a couple publicly accessible eGauge's but the production is much higher so it's hard to tell.

[solar_newbie]

Hello All,

Recently purchased a solar system that included eGauge monitoring, and so far seems pretty slick. But I'm pretty new to the energy monitoring aspect and was wondering if anyone else here uses the same product that I could bounce some questions off and kinda of compare results too.

Mainly it seems that as my solar production goes up, so does my energy consumed even though nothing else is being turned on or used at that time. Seems odd to me, but I don't have anything to compare to, I've looked at a couple publicly accessible eGauge's but the production is much higher so it's hard to tell.

I assume you do not have smart meter and your inverter does not have monitoring?

[jm33561]

My inverter provides production information, current, day, week, etc. I also have a "Production" meter from utility and a "net meter", both are digital. The production meter shows total production from solar, the net meter shows kWh used, and my "net", the difference between used and sent back to grid.

[solar_newbie]

My inverter provides production information, current, day, week, etc. I also have a "Production" meter from utility and a "net meter", both are digital. The production meter shows total production from solar, the net meter shows kWh used, and my "net", the difference between used and sent back to grid.

That means the answer is no You can use egauge I guess.
As with inverter like enphase or solaredge you have current production of solar. smart meter and Rainforest Eagle gives you both import and export of the grid. With the 3 information, you can upload automatically to pvoutput to get the full picture every 5 mins . See it is in my signature.

[jm33561]

That means the answer is no You can use egauge I guess.
As with inverter like enphase or solaredge you have current production of solar. smart meter and Rainforest Eagle gives you both import and export of the grid. With the 3 information, you can upload automatically to pvoutput to get the full picture every 5 mins . See it is in my signature.

eGauge essentially does the same thing, it just connects differently. http://egauge110.egaug.es/

That's not mine, just a publicly accessible one.

Just trying to find someone that uses eGauge to compare two home users to see if I have the correct settings.

[sensij]

What you've described sounds like a calibration difference between the egauge's source of generation and net data. For example, if the net data is accurate, and the generation calibration is off and over-reporting by 3%, then the calculated gross consumption (net = gross - generated) will also be 3% high, and will show some correlation to the generation data when the system is generating.

What type of CT is your system using?

[jm33561]

What you've described sounds like a calibration difference between the egauge's source of generation and net data. For example, if the net data is accurate, and the generation calibration is off and over-reporting by 3%, then the calculated gross consumption (net = gross - generated) will also be 3% high, and will show some correlation to the generation data when the system is generating.

What type of CT is your system using?

Two 100A CTs for the house power , one 50A for the solar array.

[sensij]

Two 100A CTs for the house power , one 50A for the solar array.

I mean what kind? Split core? Solid-core? Rope? Revenue-grade? With anything except revenue grade, several % calibration error is definitely possible.

[jm33561]

I mean what kind? Split core? Solid-core? Rope? Revenue-grade? With anything except revenue grade, several % calibration error is definitely possible.

Sorry, they are Split Core CTs.

In reading through there documentation, everything looks to be set correctly. So yeah it could just be calibration differences. Unless the inverter pulls power as it converts the higher load?

[sensij]

There have been a few threads (a few of which are below) in which eGauge has been suggested for energy monitoring of PV production and household consumption. Based on some of the feedback, I decided to recommend eGauge for my business as we looked for a revenue grade monitor to use in equipment validation and general energy consumption monitoring. My gut feel was to go with an established source of monitoring like CCS (Wattnode), Dent, or even TED, but with 8 phase conductors to monitor on one piece of equipment, for the cost, they looked worth a shot.

As an added bonus, they were willing to consider performing an annual calibration check on the meter, which helps us to comply with quality system requirements.

I received my meter last week, and blew it up the first time I plugged it in. Although it isn't mentioned in their tutorial, there is a blurb in the manual that states the following:

CAUTION:
Shielded RJ-45 plugs should not be used when connecting via Ethernet to the eGauge, as a fault can occur by creating a ground loop between the eGauge Ethernet sheathing and a switch or hub’s power system.

We use STP ethernet cables as standard in our noisy manufacturing environment, and I hadn't picked up that "ground loop" equals "short from line to ground". In a 3 phase, no neutral configuration, the third phase is put on the N pin, which, it turns out, is common with the ethernet shield. [Full disclosure, I found this out before going to the three phase hookup... I used a simple 120 V pigtail to provide power for coniguring the meter, but the L and N wiring was reversed, putting line voltage on the N terminal]. This applies to the CT terminals as well, although it seems less likely an inadvertent ground connection could be made there.

My experience with support has been mixed... I've learned not to bother calling the tech support number, nobody ever picks up, it just goes to voicemail. Email support is adequate, they quickly figured out what I did wrong, but are only willing to offer $100 credit toward a new meter to replace this one that failed.

I opened it up to see what went wrong, and the only visible damage is a blown resistor. As you might expect, tech support was unwilling to provide any information about the meter on a component level so that I could try fixing it. It it possible that other components were hurt, but at this point, since they basically see the meter as scrap, I'll take my best shot at matching the failed resistor and hope for the best.

Some other eGauge related links below:

https://www.solarpaneltalk.com/forum...toring-options

https://www.solarpaneltalk.com/forum...ual-production

https://www.solarpaneltalk.com/forum...ites-out-there

https://www.solarpaneltalk.com/forum...ood-monitoring

[SunEagle]

Damn. I was actually impressed with the info on the eGauge meter. That is a shame they didn't provide that warning in big bold letters on multiple pages.

[Mike90250]

When you get the new one, check the resistor value. SMT resistors, if they aren't marked, can be removed, measured and reinstalled.

[sensij]

When you get the new one, check the resistor value. SMT resistors, if they aren't marked, can be removed, measured and reinstalled.

The failed resistor looks just like this. The highest power rating I can find in this package is 5 W... I'll spend some more time with it tomorrow, but if this is all there is between the N terminal and the shell of the RJ-45 jack, the instant smoke is easy to understand. The color bands are pretty much intact (an extra band appeared where the metal film blew), so unless eGauge comes back with more guidance, I'll probably give another 10 ohm resistor a try and see what happens. I don't think I'll pay for a new meter at the $100 reduced price... if that jack is essentially hot in normal operation, that isn't going to be as safe to work with as I would want.