City of Palo Alto Utility (CPAU) in the Bay Area in CA does not install a new meter when PV systems are added to a house. Quote from section 8 of the 2010 CPAU PV Partners Handbook<http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=14980> :
8.1 Electric Meter CPAU does not customarily change the billing electric meter when the customer installs PV, since the existing analog meter spins forwards and backwards. For metering questions contact the Electric Meter Shop at (650) 496-6978. On Fri, Aug 12, 2011 at 8:14 AM, Dave Click <[email protected]> wrote: > 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: >> [email protected].**org<[email protected]> >> >> Options& settings: >> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/**options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-**wrenches.org<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<http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org> >> >> List rules& etiquette: >> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.**htm<http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm> >> >> Check out participant bios: >> www.members.re-wrenches.org >> >> ______________________________**_________________ > List sponsored by Home Power magazine > > List Address: > [email protected].**org<[email protected]> > > Options & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/**options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-**wrenches.org<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<http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org> > > List rules & etiquette: > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.**htm<http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm> > > Check out participant bios: > www.members.re-wrenches.org > >
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