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1 hour ago, Ferret said:

Confused since I don't think my solar panels send anything directly into the house. If they did, I think I would have electricity (during producing hours) when there is a power failure and I don't. I THINK it's just a two way street... to CFE and from CFE.

That is a safety feature when there is a power failure.  We can not have the panels sending electric down to either the house or CFE when there is a chance that repair people can be working on the lines.

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2 hours ago, John Shrall said:

The only missing part of the equation is the amount of kwh you took directly from your solar panels during the day. You either have to catch the total produced today from your inverter or you read the life total in the morning and subtract yesterday from today. That’s how much your solar system produced. Take that number,  subtract the CFE debit number and add the credit number and you have the total kwh consumed in a day.

There are new inverters that have a web page that displays and graphs the panel's output by the hour.

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Thanks for all the info, everyone.  I figure I am going to be paying an extra $60-70 USD on the next CFE bill, and possible $30-$40 on the bill following that...Maybe a grand total of $100 USD for running 3 mini-splits during the hottest part of the year.  Still beats the $300 USD I was spending on electricity every month (think: central air) in Florida. 

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51 minutes ago, Tiny said:

That is a safety feature when there is a power failure.  We can not have the panels sending electric down to either the house or CFE when there is a chance that repair people can be working on the lines.

Yes, I know that it's a safety feature but I also do not think that any of the power produced by the solar panels goes into the house. It all goes to CFE and we draw from CFE. 

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On 4/21/2019 at 5:02 PM, Go Solar said:

The 2.8.0 is "sent" to CFE, which is NET of what is used in your home, at the time it is being produced.     (Can only increase, during the day.)

And my technician says that we use "Net" metering", not "Gross" metering.

"Gross metering:

The total energy generated by the solar rooftop plant is to be injected into the grid without allowing the generated solar energy to be consumed directly by the consumer.

Net Metering:
 
The energy generated by the solar rooftop plant is first allowed for self-consumption and the excess energy is injected to the grid.
on-grid-system"
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Good link but does it apply here and to every installation. I will call my installer tomorrow and find out what my system is doing. One would think that there was a piece of equipment that would allow an automatic switchover in the case of power failures if the system was net to protect line workers but to allow the producer to use the energy during a blackout.  Curious.

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12 hours ago, Ferret said:

Confused since I don't think my solar panels send anything directly into the house. If they did, I think I would have electricity (during producing hours) when there is a power failure and I don't. I THINK it's just a two way street... to CFE and from CFE.

Think of the solar produced electricity as water. It flows following the path of least resistance. If you are using electricity in your house it flows there. If it producing more than you are using, the excess flows to the street.

For example, at my house in Guayabitos I have an electric heat pump for the pool that consumes about 8 kwh per hour of use. On a sunny day my solar panels produce 4kwh during the noon hour. If the pump is running from noon to 1 I will use 4kwh from the panel combined with 4 from CFE, increasing the debit number by that amount. If I turn the pump off and only use 2kwh during the sunny hour I send 2 back to CFE increasing the credit number.

Perhaps systems with micro-inverters work differently but those with fixed inverters like Kaco or Fronius work this way.

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All solar power with a CFE grid tied, net metering system is first used in the house at the time it is produced; only the excess goes to the grid.      And all grid-tied inverters (global industry and safety standard) shut down when they don't have a grid reference to work to, whether a central string inverter, or micro-inverter.

Remember, transformers work both ways.    That 220 V can become 12,000 or more, flowing back the other way after it leaves your home.

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Go Solar was posting at the same time as I was... ;)

Yup. Tiny and John are correct. We have NET systems. The power is used within the house during producing hours and the excess is sent to CFE.

BTW, I also have just ordered a Jackery 240 watt hour power station which can be charged via an inverter generator (too noisy, too heavy, too bulky and relies on fossil fuels) or an AC outlet (when there's power) or a car charger OR a portable 50 watt solar panel. Guess what I'm ordering next.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D29QNMJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

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