Solar Production Net Metering
The expected production is based on your system’s size, and the tilt and orientation of the array. For information on the kilowatt hours your system is expected to produce, please review the information provided by your salesperson. Please keep in mind the expected production is an estimate. Your system’s production will vary year to year and is affected by cloudy or inclement weather and any nearby obstructions that cause shade.
The meter for your solar system is similar to the one used by the local electric utility, but the solar meter measures only the total energy produced by your solar panels. The utility meter has two measures – kilowatt hours (kHw) in and kWh out. The solar meter will never match the numbers on the utility meter. This is because you will use the kWh from the solar array inside your home first, and only the excess will reach the utility meter to be measured.
Your solar meter can be found on the side of your home and is labeled “NJR Clean Energy Ventures.”
It periodically cycles through different screens:
This screen is a self-test.
This screen shows the total kWh produced by solar energy.
Occasionally, the screen will display “busy” when the meter is writing data to a memory chip.
If you want to know how much solar energy has been produced for a period of time, record the number on the Solar Meter and then take a read at another time and subtract the two. That will be the amount of solar kWh produced during the time between the two reads. Remember the amount of solar produced will vary based on the time of year, the amount of sunlight available and any shading that may occur from clouds, trees, snow, etc.
Net metering helps customers maximize their renewable energy investments. It enables you to obtain full retail credits on your utility bill for each kilowatt hour the solar system produced. With net metering, the electric meter read will increase when electricity flows from the utility into your home and decrease when power flows from the home to the utility.
Click the links below for more information on net metering from your utility company.