System running on solar still getting high electricity bill.

[zohaib]

Hello,

We have installed hybrid solar system in our office. We are getting higher electricity bill instead of all load is running on solar. Whats the reason for this?

The system details is shown below.

The system mainly runs during office hours except one room which is used whole day. The total watt hrs per day is 23 KWhrs according to load calculation. If we add loss factor to this and calculate panels required then its 23 panels we needed of the power 260 W(24v) to cover this load. But we have installed only 14 panels in our system b/c heavy load in our system is only photocopy machine which runs only 30 to 45 mins a day. So we have used less panels in this case b/c all the load are not in use all the time. We have used two inverters for this system 5kw(48v) which is used mainly for photocopy machine and 3 kw(24v) inverter which runs other load like pcs,lights and fans. All the system is running on solar excepts AC's. And our battery backup is 3 to 4 hours. We have used 6 batteries of 150AH for our system. There is no net metering in this case.
I have shared system details to understand our system.

Now come to my point that since last month we have not AC's still we got (90$) 9000 PKR electricity bill for this month instead of load is running on solar system all the month.
What the reason behind this. How to figure out the problem in this regard.
Kindly share your use full suggestions.

Thanx
Zohaib

[paul65k]

Hello,

We have installed hybrid solar system in our office. We are getting higher electricity bill instead of all load is running on solar. Whats the reason for this?

The system details is shown below.

The system mainly runs during office hours except one room which is used whole day. The total watt hrs per day is 23 KWhrs according to load calculation. If we add loss factor to this and calculate panels required then its 23 panels we needed of the power 260 W(24v) to cover this load. But we have installed only 14 panels in our system b/c heavy load in our system is only photocopy machine which runs only 30 to 45 mins a day. So we have used less panels in this case b/c all the load are not in use all the time. We have used two inverters for this system 5kw(48v) which is used mainly for photocopy machine and 3 kw(24v) inverter which runs other load like pcs,lights and fans. All the system is running on solar excepts AC's. And our battery backup is 3 to 4 hours. We have used 6 batteries of 150AH for our system. There is no net metering in this case.
I have shared system details to understand our system.

Now come to my point that since last month we have not AC's still we got (90$) 9000 PKR electricity bill for this month instead of load is running on solar system all the month.
What the reason behind this. How to figure out the problem in this regard.
Kindly share your use full suggestions.

Thanx
Zohaib

I'm guessing you are tied to the grid and do not have a net metering agreement with your local utility???

There are some meters out there (PG&E comes to mind) that will actually bill you for the extra power you send to the grid just like the power you are bringing down..........careful there with that stuff.

[Wy_White_Wolf]

DO you have a net metering agreement with the PoCo?

If not then most likely you have a meter that bills you for all power that passes through it. Doesn't matter what direction through the meter that power flows it added it all to the total to be billed.

WWW

[SunEagle]

Sounds like you installed a solar/battery system that you then connected to the grid. If you did this without getting permission from your POCO or did not install a proper hybrid inverter more than likely you are getting charged for any kWh you are generating from you pv system that is not being consumed by your loads. If any power goes "out to the grid" then your meter is just adding that amount up and charging you for it.

Shortcuts to save power by installing a illegal grid tie system ends up costing you much more than what you thought you would save.

[paul65k]

I'm guessing you are tied to the grid and do not have a net metering agreement with your local utility???

There are some meters out there (PG&E comes to mind) that will actually bill you for the extra power you send to the grid just like the power you are bringing down..........careful there with that stuff.

[inetdog]

Hello,

We have installed hybrid solar system in our office. We are getting higher electricity bill instead of all load is running on solar. Whats the reason for this?

The system details is shown below.

The system mainly runs during office hours except one room which is used whole day. The total watt hrs per day is 23 KWhrs according to load calculation. If we add loss factor to this and calculate panels required then its 23 panels we needed of the power 260 W(24v) to cover this load. But we have installed only 14 panels in our system b/c heavy load in our system is only photocopy machine which runs only 30 to 45 mins a day. So we have used less panels in this case b/c all the load are not in use all the time. We have used two inverters for this system 5kw(48v) which is used mainly for photocopy machine and 3 kw(24v) inverter which runs other load like pcs,lights and fans. All the system is running on solar excepts AC's. And our battery backup is 3 to 4 hours. We have used 6 batteries of 150AH for our system. There is no net metering in this case.
I have shared system details to understand our system.

Now come to my point that since last month we have not AC's still we got (90$) 9000 PKR electricity bill for this month instead of load is running on solar system all the month.
What the reason behind this. How to figure out the problem in this regard.
Kindly share your use full suggestions.

Thanx
Zohaib

OK, you say that you are using a hybrid system, with both batteries and a grid connection? If so, how are you controlling which loads are on the hybrid system and which are not? Are they on a separate electrical panel connected to the output side if the hybrid inverter transfer switch?

Exactly what manufacturer and model hybrid inverter are you using? It is possible that you have not configured it correctly to disable putting power back into the grid when your connected local load is less than the panel output and the batteries do not need charging. If that is the case, then as others have mentioned you will be sending power to the grid and being billed for what you send. The worst possible outcome.

[zohaib]

OK, you say that you are using a hybrid system, with both batteries and a grid connection? If so, how are you controlling which loads are on the hybrid system and which are not? Are they on a separate electrical panel connected to the output side if the hybrid inverter transfer switch?

Exactly what manufacturer and model hybrid inverter are you using? It is possible that you have not configured it correctly to disable putting power back into the grid when your connected local load is less than the panel output and the batteries do not need charging. If that is the case, then as others have mentioned you will be sending power to the grid and being billed for what you send. The worst possible outcome.

Thanx for your kind response. NS inverter model KS-3000 is used in this system. And there is no net metering in our system.

[zohaib]

No net metering in this case

Thanx all for your suggestions.

[zohaib]

System Checkup

Do you provide periodic maintenance to solar system ,as it is very essential that we should check the system from the experts . As, we are also having systems running on solar in our offices, but is yearly maintained by the professional heating and air conditioning contractor and the electricity bill that comes is very nominal. Once check your system from the experts.

Yes i have contacted the company which have installed this system they will come to check for the system.
How much power solar system you have in your office and how much your monthly bill is reduced after getting it on solar?

[DanKegel]

Hi Zohaib,
it's hard to say without knowing a lot more about your situation, perhaps more than is worth sharing with us.

When I was trying the answer the same question, I manually read both my energy used
and energy produced meters every day for a couple weeks, entered those readings
daily in a spreadsheet, and ended up with a better understanding of every day's
energy consumption and production. That in itself was helpful, and eventually
watching those numbers I figured out whether the panels were indeed saving us money.
Have you tried that yet?

[zohaib]

Energy used

Hi Zohaib,
it's hard to say without knowing a lot more about your situation, perhaps more than is worth sharing with us.

When I was trying the answer the same question, I manually read both my energy used
and energy produced meters every day for a couple weeks, entered those readings
daily in a spreadsheet, and ended up with a better understanding of every day's
energy consumption and production. That in itself was helpful, and eventually
watching those numbers I figured out whether the panels were indeed saving us money.
Have you tried that yet?

No i haven't tried this. There is only one main meter in this case so how i can check energy used and energy produced?