Roc meter

[it's not over]

My roc meter turned from 999.99mw and then stopped.i didn't notice for nearly 2 months as I mistakingly took the end of month pic from the wrong screen. What's the outlook for me and ofgem. I'm export and own use. Own use part hard to prove. Since rhi is now a dirty word,renewables are under an even greater spotlight here in ni

 

[akaPABLO01]

My roc meter turned from 999.99mw and then stopped.i didn't notice for nearly 2 months as I mistakingly took the end of month pic from the wrong screen. What's the outlook for me and ofgem. I'm export and own use. Own use part hard to prove. Since rhi is now a dirty word,renewables are under an even greater spotlight here in ni

I had a similar issue with the meter clocked up.

You need to get someone competent in electrical/plumbing work for that technology. They need to order a new meter, fit it, then you re-register it with Ofgem by adjusting/editing your current Ofgem application. Go to the meter section to update.

You need to let Ofgem know you are changing the meter.

Take a picture of the meter before you replace it, clear image with the full meter.

Change it, take a picture of the new meter.

Send the pictures into Ofgem with the email stating which make, model & serial is the old meter, the same with the new meter including end read, new opening read.

If your last reading was the same as the meter number tough luck. You will not be able to invent any average reading. You will lose a quarter of revenue unless the previous meter read shows a difference.

Ofgem meter upgrade will take several months to process.

Just be open with Ofgem and tell them your issue and you’re looking to get the meter replaced ASAP.

 

[it's not over]

Why was such a roc meter fitted in the first place when it's only going to last 3 years. My other turbine has a different meter well in excess of 2 million units

 

[e3120]

I would have thought that you would have a case to argue for the exported element of the generation, even if you have to write off own use. If both generation meters export through the same meter, then other one would need to be deducted.

But that's me being logical - you're dealing with Ofgem!

Edit: Has the turbine it's own meter/monitoring? When I had an unusually high month of generation, Ofgem accepted screen dump of turbine page as evidence, but this was only for a few quids worth of LECs.

 

[Exfarmer]

It will not affect your export, that is through the MPan meter. Your Rocs have been lost I am afraid . You need to change that meter PDQ

 

[it's not over]

It will not affect your export, that is through the MPan meter. Your Rocs have been lost I am afraid . You need to change that meter PDQ

There must be some systems in place for an approved roc meter going haywire. I will take a loss in my own use but the roc element in into tens of thousands

 

[Exfarmer]

Sorry to say it, but for that sort of investment a monitoring company at about £50 a year is awfully cheap!

 

[akaPABLO01]

Meters glitch unfortunately usually a surge

 

[rollestonpark]

Can I ask the make and model of meter?
Wonder whether mine might do the same...
Thanks
Chris

 

[it's not over]

Can I ask the make and model of meter?
Wonder whether mine might do the same...
Thanks
Chris

It's a socomec diris a14. Doesn't go over 1gw

 

[rollestonpark]

Ah mines an iskra, hopefully I won't have that issue. But keep a close eye on mine by reading it a midnight everyday with a raspberry pi.

 

[it's not over]

Ah mines an iskra, hopefully I won't have that issue. But keep a close eye on mine by reading it a midnight everyday with a raspberry pi.

I'd contact the manufacturer and ask if it goes over 1gw. Pre warned is pre armed

 

[Exfarmer]

Dont all these meters read by magnets on the line and readings can be adjusted by a factor of 10, 100, 1000 etc
I would think it was set up wrong by the installer

 

[rollestonpark]

Most use CTs, but, will have a look at the manual, most go back round eventually. They shouldn't stop

 

[akaPABLO01]

Ah mines an iskra, hopefully I won't have that issue. But keep a close eye on mine by reading it a midnight everyday with a raspberry pi.

Had an Iskra top out at 986K

 

[rollestonpark]

Will ask the question, cos that's worrying

 

[akaPABLO01]

Ah mines an iskra, hopefully I won't have that issue. But keep a close eye on mine by reading it a midnight everyday with a raspberry pi.

Can you create guide setting up raspberry pi,assuming you’re computer savvy?

 

[rollestonpark]

Hi akaPABL001,
I'll try and make this brief, if more detail is requested, maybe make a new thread...

Reason I did this:
My ROC electric meter is on my CHP, The CHP can be quite challenging to keep running, so I wanted decent performance data I could look at.

The electric meter in question is a Iskra MT174, although all the current Iskra meters seem fairly easy to read remotely. Some other brands and heat meters are also possible to read using this method.
What your actually creating is an Automatic Meter Reader (AMR). I believe you can buy AMRs 'off the shelf', but I wanted a custom job, cheaper, and done for 1 electric and 3 heat meters.

My Iskra meter has an RS485 interface and an optical one. If RS485 is available this is better and cheaper, but the optical interface will require a USB optical probe which I've bought in the past off eBay, £30 ish.
For RS485, you need a usb RS485 adapter to connect to the raspberry pi (linux compatible). Then connect this via Cat5 cable 1 pair to the meter.
I run my raspberry pis headless, ie no keyboard, mouse or monitor, then remote access them through ssh.
On the internet you can download some python code to read the meter. It's not a massive length of code and can be easily modded.
This produces a long list of data from the meter.
I then added my own code to extract the import and export figures I wanted and bin the rest.
I then added more code to upload the import and export figures to a google spreadsheet online.

Using this method I have on google spreadsheets a workbook with a sheet for each month, the pi creates a new row of data with the date at midnight every night.
Then at the end of the month, the pi creates a new sheet for the next month and so forth.
Totaling the month's output and CHP's runtime and so forth can all be coded for also.

Raspberry Pis are extremely versatile little computers, I have many of them running my CHP, boiler/biomass system, turning on fans, pumps, central heating in the house, use them to monitor temperatures and then turn stuff off or on, or if CHP goes offline, switch other things on or off as a result. All with web interfaces I can access from my phone etc.

Coding in python isn't too difficult, I've learnt it from nothing, just using the internet and some books, and experimenting. My coding prowess isn't great, but it works.

Chris

 

[Exfarmer]

Hi akaPABL001,
I'll try and make this brief, if more detail is requested, maybe make a new thread...

Reason I did this:
My ROC electric meter is on my CHP, The CHP can be quite challenging to keep running, so I wanted decent performance data I could look at.

The electric meter in question is a Iskra MT174, although all the current Iskra meters seem fairly easy to read remotely. Some other brands and heat meters are also possible to read using this method.
What your actually creating is an Automatic Meter Reader (AMR). I believe you can buy AMRs 'off the shelf', but I wanted a custom job, cheaper, and done for 1 electric and 3 heat meters.

My Iskra meter has an RS485 interface and an optical one. If RS485 is available this is better and cheaper, but the optical interface will require a USB optical probe which I've bought in the past off eBay, £30 ish.
For RS485, you need a usb RS485 adapter to connect to the raspberry pi (linux compatible). Then connect this via Cat5 cable 1 pair to the meter.
I run my raspberry pis headless, ie no keyboard, mouse or monitor, then remote access them through ssh.
On the internet you can download some python code to read the meter. It's not a massive length of code and can be easily modded.
This produces a long list of data from the meter.
I then added my own code to extract the import and export figures I wanted and bin the rest.
I then added more code to upload the import and export figures to a google spreadsheet online.

Using this method I have on google spreadsheets a workbook with a sheet for each month, the pi creates a new row of data with the date at midnight every night.
Then at the end of the month, the pi creates a new sheet for the next month and so forth.
Totaling the month's output and CHP's runtime and so forth can all be coded for also.

Raspberry Pis are extremely versatile little computers, I have many of them running my CHP, boiler/biomass system, turning on fans, pumps, central heating in the house, use them to monitor temperatures and then turn stuff off or on, or if CHP goes offline, switch other things on or off as a result. All with web interfaces I can access from my phone etc.

Coding in python isn't too difficult, I've learnt it from nothing, just using the internet and some books, and experimenting. My coding prowess isn't great, but it works.

Chris

That sounds an interesting challenge, think I will look into it, thanks!

 

[akaPABLO01]

Hi akaPABL001,
I'll try and make this brief, if more detail is requested, maybe make a new thread...

Reason I did this:
My ROC electric meter is on my CHP, The CHP can be quite challenging to keep running, so I wanted decent performance data I could look at.

The electric meter in question is a Iskra MT174, although all the current Iskra meters seem fairly easy to read remotely. Some other brands and heat meters are also possible to read using this method.
What your actually creating is an Automatic Meter Reader (AMR). I believe you can buy AMRs 'off the shelf', but I wanted a custom job, cheaper, and done for 1 electric and 3 heat meters.

My Iskra meter has an RS485 interface and an optical one. If RS485 is available this is better and cheaper, but the optical interface will require a USB optical probe which I've bought in the past off eBay, £30 ish.
For RS485, you need a usb RS485 adapter to connect to the raspberry pi (linux compatible). Then connect this via Cat5 cable 1 pair to the meter.
I run my raspberry pis headless, ie no keyboard, mouse or monitor, then remote access them through ssh.
On the internet you can download some python code to read the meter. It's not a massive length of code and can be easily modded.
This produces a long list of data from the meter.
I then added my own code to extract the import and export figures I wanted and bin the rest.
I then added more code to upload the import and export figures to a google spreadsheet online.

Using this method I have on google spreadsheets a workbook with a sheet for each month, the pi creates a new row of data with the date at midnight every night.
Then at the end of the month, the pi creates a new sheet for the next month and so forth.
Totaling the month's output and CHP's runtime and so forth can all be coded for also.

Raspberry Pis are extremely versatile little computers, I have many of them running my CHP, boiler/biomass system, turning on fans, pumps, central heating in the house, use them to monitor temperatures and then turn stuff off or on, or if CHP goes offline, switch other things on or off as a result. All with web interfaces I can access from my phone etc.

Coding in python isn't too difficult, I've learnt it from nothing, just using the internet and some books, and experimenting. My coding prowess isn't great, but it works.

Chris

Chris, this is gold, if you ever find time please do a guide whether you can do a YouTube step by step or written guide with links for equipment? I’m sure it’s get stickied.

How is the data transferred online or dialled out? I’m sure plenty on here would love to implement this including me.

Appreciate your time.