A solar smart meter helps you get a clear picture of how electricity is generated and used. It does this by measuring solar electricity production and home consumption.
It measures solar energy production from your PV system. Solar smart meters work with solar panels to measure the electricity that your solar system is producing.
With analog meters, you do not know the amount of electricity produced. You simply know that you are producing more energy than you use when your meter spins backward. Also, you simply know that your system is producing less electricity than you use when your meter spins forward.
But a smart meter added to your solar system will show the exact amount of electricity produced by your solar system. When the meter also measures what you use, you can know how much more electricity you need.
It measures your electricity consumption. The basic function is to measure the exact amount of electricity that a home uses. This is so that you pay for only the electricity that you use.
If the electricity produced is not enough in a home with a solar system, the grid supplies the balance that you need. So, the meter measures your home electricity consumption from both the solar power systems and the grid.
The solar smart meter measures surplus electricity exported to the grid. If the electricity that your solar power system produces is more than you use, the surplus electricity can be exported (sold) to the grid.
The meter can measure the exact amount of electricity going from your home to the grid. With this, you will know the feed-in tariff that you’ll get for excess electricity that your solar system produces.
It also measures avoided CO2 emissions. With a solar smart meter added to your installation, you can know the actual harm avoided. This is because the smart meter calculates the avoided CO2 emissions based on your production.
Solar energy is a clean energy source because it does not produce greenhouse gasses or air pollutants. When using a solar power system, you simply know that you generate electricity without adversely impacting the environment.
