Does My Electric Meter Really Spin Backwards?

Between the time the solar system is installed and your utility company replaces your old single direction meter with a new bi-directional meter it is possible to see your meter spin backwards. This will happen during periods of time where the solar system is harvesting more electricity than your home needs. In these situations the electricity goes back out to the grid and you have a kWh credit with the utility company.

Later on in the day when you need electricity and solar is not providing any (like at night when it is dark out) you will receive electricity from your utility company and initially work off your credit before accruing new kWh charges. This happens all day, all month long. At the end of the month your utility bill will show the total kWh you actually needed from them. The amount of kWh received from your solar system will show on your solar systems monitoring portal, not on your utility bill. Your utility company only knows what you took from them or gave to them, they have no knowledge on what your solar system is harvesting nor can they advise on it.

These days utility companies are demonstrating great support for solar in New Jersey and New York. Many have informative websites, helpful PDF guides and detailed step by step interconnection guidelines (which EcoMen, as your installer, files for you). I’ve added a few of these PDFs below as they are rather informative

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