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As seen in the attached bill, my first with solar, I used 670 kWh. I PV generated 131 kWh. But I only transferred 83 kWh back to SMUD. I called and they said I "used the difference"? Does that make sense to anyone? So the difference, 48 kWh was just used by me and not counted except in the difference? Seems a bit odd to me. But I am new. I was expecting if I used 670 they would subtract my 131 generated leaving an owed to them 539... This is also a partial month of generation, 10/25 to 11/3.
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It sounds very common and appropriate. When your PV is generating, it is feeding your house first, then anything in excess goes out to the grid that the utility pays you for. There are exceptions to this method in some areas, where there is 100% utility feeds but the common situation in the US is how I described it.
In your case, 670 is how much you Imported from the utility, not how much you "used". The 83 is what you Exported to them. In total, you used 670+48 -
Thanks. Should I be worried that the Total PV Generated by SMUD was 131 kWh and my SolarEdge sum for the same time recorded 162 kWh generated? I read that SolarEdge uses all of their stated wiggle room, but that seems like quite a difference.Comment
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you consumed some energy in the house before it ever reached the SMUD meter so they don't have any record of it.
OutBack FP1 w/ CS6P-250P http://bit.ly/1Sg5VNHComment
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Reread my first post until you really get it, because the second question you asked is nearly the same as the first. As butch said, the SMUD meter will never know how much you generated, just exported.Comment
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IMO it is doubtful that you are comparing apples to apples.
What are the exact dates that SMUD says you generated 131kwh (of which you exported to SMUD 83kwh)?
What are the exact dates that Solaredge says you generated 162kwh?
I would bet they're not the same.
OR Solaredge is including some amount where it wasn't counted as generation because the meters weren't yet setup. (Not unusual for the first month to have some testing of the setup where the meter isn't configured to record it)
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I do have multiple meters, one for my generation, and one for what I purchase. I attached pictures. Looking at my PV meter, it indicates my life time total generated at 461 and my SolarEdge portal indicates 475. So about 2.5% difference, or what I've read SolarEdge is normally off.
The dates, 10/25 to 11/3 for my generation is the tail end of my monthly SMUD reading period. I summed up the daily readings in SolarEdge to obtain 162 kWh. My SMUD bill says I generated 131 though for this time period. I'm going to assume that some of my initial generation was not accounted for while I was being switched over. I'll know if the next billing cycle lines up better.
And now I understand that the to compute my total monthly usage I need to subtract my total PV production (131) from what I sent back to the grid (83) and add that to my energy purchased from SMUD (670) So 131-83 = 48 + 670 = 718 kWhComment
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Hm - that meter/panel combo unit looks a lot like my old Federal Pacific panel.
I replaced mine as part of solar install / service upgrade / EV charger install.
If yours is Federal Pacific, I would encourage you to read up on it a little.
It will likely be flagged as an undesirable thing by a house inspector when you go to sell your house. (Or when your heirs go to sell your house if you plan to never sell it)Comment
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Thanks Butch for that good info. And thanks foo1bar for the info on the panel type. I'll be looking into that this weekend. My house was built in 2004, so maybe it was after the discovery of the Federal Pacific issues. I'm going to find out either way.Comment
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