Energy Matters Forums

[mica16]

Hi everyone

Just had a 1.5kw system installed. Conergy Panels and Fronius IG30 outdoor unit. System is only 3 days old. So far results have been good as far as im concerned. 12kwh one day and 10kwh the next. Peaked out at 1397w Todays the 3rd day.

Anyway, I have been trying to track the power consumption and output but cant figure out the meter too well. Synergys website isnt much chop for information either
I know what channel 7, 10 ,20 ,30 and 40 are, but cant figure the rest out or find out how much power is going to the grid.

Is there a list for the channels or does someone know what the rest are?
What else should I keep track of in regards to the fronius apart from peak watts and output as I do not have a data link yet.

Thanks
Mike

[SR76]

Howdy,

I'm in WA with Synergy as well.

Firstly - are you on "SmartPower" (time-of-use tariff) or on the regular tariff? I'd suggest switching to SmartPower as the payoff in summer (high generation during peak times) covers the winter shortfall (for me anyway). The meter may be set up differently for each tariff.

If it's SmartPower, the first 10 values you see when you scroll through are interesting:

1 Import - Total
2 Import - On Peak (weekday mid-day)
3 Import - Off Peak (nights)
4 Import - High Shoulder (weekday shoulder)
5 Import - Low Shoulder (weekends)
6-10 Export - same order

I track all the numbers as I'm an enthusiast, but you can just track the totals (1st and 6th figure). I also keep a track of the inverter daily & cumulative totals. Usually I read all meters at the same time of day (in the evening just before sundown).

You can track your generation and consumption by:

Generation = inverter total reading
Consumption = Generation + Import - Export

I keep a spreadsheet and take regular readings (used to do them daily but thought that got excessive/obsessive). Originally I wanted a datalogger but it's a lot of money for what is essentially a neat toy.

If you have a different type of meter then what I've said mightn't make sense - is there a model number on it? Mine was installed ~ 2 years ago and I assume they roll out the same one to everyone...?

-SR

[SR76]

Oops... just re-read the letter from Synergy and even if you're on the standard A1 tariff the 1st and 6th digits are still the ones to read.

However because you've mentioned channel 10, 20 etc. maybe we're talking about different meters altogether?

Sorry if that's the case.

[mica16]

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah still on A1 tarrif at the moment but have considered switching. Just wanted to get a baseline figure first with the A1 and work it out from there.

I did have one of the blue power meters before then they took it away and replaced it with this new black one for some reason. Was originally told the blue one was compatible and just needed reprogramming. We may have different meters

as for model number its a 350 I think??? 3 phase meter.

I made up a spreadsheet to track peak watts power generated and the meter reading as well as the channels I mentioned. Just a bit confusing because on the meter channels 15 25 35 and 45 are very similar in kwh( 12, 10,12 and 12). I thought this was the export side but not sure.

Thanks for the input though

[SR76]

OK. 3-phase meter is bound to be different (mine is 1-phase and white for a start).

On the topic of A1 vs SmartPower - these were the main factors for me:

a) On weekdays I use very little power during the day as I'm at work
b) I do washing & ironing on weekends or late in the evening, or maybe iron a shirt before 7am
c) I have solar hot water with electric boost which I can run at night

Given that profile most of my usage is in off-peak time with very little on-peak usage. Almost all power I generate is in peak time during summer (which I sell at 31.97c/kWh) and the majority of power I buy is off-peak (9.12c/kWh). I found that the summer windfall more than makes up for the winter. Plus my panel orientation is lower than the latitude (20 degrees = summer bias) and slightly to the west (afternoon bias, which fits better with the tariff timetable). All point me towards SmartPower.

-SR

[macnmary]

In regards to reading your meter.

I had the same problem and contacted the meter reading dept of synergy WA, And they explained to me how to read my meter, Which was as follows. 07 represents what I have purchased. To find out what kws I have exported I needed to press the ALT button. On pressing the ALT button that would cause the readout to display 107 and an amount of kws which had been exported. We also have just had installed a solar power system from Energy Matters which we are more than satisfied with. And yes we also had a new three phase meter installed.

Andrew Jones

[buildgreen]

I encountered this similar problem month ago and i've done the one you did as well.
It works for me.