Are small clamps from expansion module bidirectional?

[kk07]

Hi,

I have solar.  I’ve put the two big clamps on my two service mains and I can see the NET metering information already.

This question is specifically about the 50A (small) clamps from the expansion module. I want to measure how much my solar panels are producing using one of those small clamps.

In my app, I’ve set the multiplier to 2 (because my solar circuit is dual pole). But that circuit is always positive in the app even when during the solar production. When there is no production (at night), there is a constant ~200Watts draw (I am assuming that’s the power being used by my enphase combiner box?)

Anyway, not seeing positive and negative on this solar circuit makes me wonder the accuracy and how to best measure the solar production using a 50A sensor.

Thanks.

 

 

[Marty @Emporia]

Hello @kk07,

The 50A sensors are not directional and will measure current regardless of direction.   These readings do not impact your net metering as the expansion ad the main Vue module are separately reporting.    Some customers have put a “negative” multiplier to represent production when monitoring their solar circuits.

The load you see at night, is in fact from the inverters, however, since we assume 120v in our calculations the ~200 watts you are seeing is overstated.  You can read more about this phenomenon by clicking on this link;

 http://wotid.com/blog/night-time-sleeping-load-consumption-of-my-grid-connected-inverters/

Please let us know if you have any further questions.

Thanks!

Marty

[kk07]

Thanks. I added a minus sign to the multiplier field (-2). The circuit is now reporting negative watts for solar production.

So how can I correct those overstated 200 watts reported in the app? Does it mean that the numbers reported in the app for solar production is not accurate?

• This reply was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by kk07.

[charlie]

I think I just read that you can ignore those multiplier values as they’re inaccurate although I wonder if it impacts the money values.

I’d hope that development would be able to remove those values software-wise.

[kk07]

I’ve removed the 50A sensor clamp from my solar circuit. Those overstated 200 watts being reported from the solar circuit at night is too big of an error for me to keep using the sensor on it. I need additional sensors anyway. Those 8 sensors got used pretty quickly, and I am not even 100% covered yet on all my circuits.

Until Emporia provides an updated hardware or software fix, I won’t be using the 50A sensor from the expansion kit on the solar circuit. At least the big clamps on the two mains are bidirectional. So not all is lost. I will report back how accurate they are in reporting the net metering after a few months.

[Author]

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