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Quick Update what happened recently. We got the first energy bill for the Import/Export Digital meter and they are charging only imported units. The few exported units are not being charged. (The meter reader guy did not know how to read the meter so it took almost 4 weeks to get the bill) Furthermore I made contact with the engineer responsible for permitting solar systems from.the local PEA office and... there is no system to register solar farms at the moment. But he added it will be possible soon probably this year. So that's a good news if that would be true. Hands down. As I understand he will come to my house and check if the solar system is in check and that for no or no hight cost (whatever that means) So now is waiting time. I am.definetly aiming to get a permit to export to the grid and get the 2.2 baht/unit or what it will be.

In my case they send out a ordinary PEA member the next day to check the circumstance. Maybe its time to stop exporting for a few days?

Why are there are 2 different displayed number on the meter? What does it mean?

Actually there is a CT installed. So it's possible to turn off export to grid. There are things I don't like about it. So I would only deactive export if that is really necessary. 1) the Inverter restarts often if there is not much consumption. 1 aircon and 2 fridges are running 24/7 and that is about 300 watts/hour. Which is not enough from preventing the inverter from.restarting frequently especially in early morning and late eveni hours. I think it's not good for longevity of the inverter either. 2) this point is my observation. Take it as speculation as you like. when power output is at a certain Level,it seems to take a while for the inverter to level.up.the needed output. This means more import from the grid overall

Actually I think it's it is a fact that everyone has to admit that the energy consumption of the world is rising. History shows that energy consumption is always rising. And if there is a new energy source found,it never substituted another energy source. No, it adds up to the other sources that are in place. It happend with wood>coal>oil>gas> uranium> etc pp My point is, you never know what the big thinkers are up to. Especially not in Thailand. But it's an undeniable fact that Thailand will need solar power in the future. More so as the demonestic gas reserves in place have peaked already and its output is declining. There is more and more demand for LNG bow which is very pricey. (Thailand is heavily depended on fas for energy gernation)

I have got a 6kw inverter. This one.

Thanks Crossy for sharing your Wisdom in this. In fact you were right. This is what I would say so far. (Did. Ot receive an updated Bill or anything yet) So what did the PEA do? They just send some ordinary guy to change the meter. And there is a digital meter installed now. The Solar farm is still feeding the grid. Giving free units to the PEA now. My idea is to visit the PEA office and ask politely for a Solar friendly meter to get some credit for the generated units. Not having many expectations with that venture. (- until a year ago the PEA did not provide this kind of meter here. Yes time is going slowly here in the deep Esaan.) Am I missing some important points here? any advice?

The PEA found out that my meter is spinning backward. So they send some ordinary staff out to my place to check. I let him inspect my property, and he finds the solar panels installed on the roof. So he is saying that tomorrow some engineer will give you a call and check your place again. I'm asking if there is a problem. He is replying, "Don't worry. This was one week ago, and nothing has happened so far. Opinions, please. How will this play out, and should I do anything ? I got a position consumption on the meter about 100 units every month.

Thanks everybody for the value added.

It looks like it is working now. The inverter did not like pulling the CT string while working on full load, though. Strangely, pulling the CT string meant that the inverter did not come working again that day with the CT cable plugged out. I had to plug it in again. But pulling the CT string out the next day while the inverter was sleeping worked fine and does so now. Everything looks good now for a few days. The inverter is feeding back to the grid. The meter disc spinning backwards. Am me being a happy man observing it ???? Thanks Crossy for sharing your wisdom here. ????

Pulling the CT string brings the Solar output slowly down to 0w. Why is it? Restarting the inverter with pulled out cable results in the same. Going slowly to 0w. Plugging in the CT cable brings the output back up to about 1000w solar production at this moment. Am i missing something here? Maybe the Invt inverter needs the cable to be plugged in?

Crossy thanks to you. So it would be okay to just plug out the cable from current transformer going in the inverter? Thats easy. Does the inverter have to be turned off while doing that? That would be an easy way. And there would be no need to reconfigure the inverter when the man from The PEA comes to check the meter reading. Life can be so easy sometimes.

There is definitely no export to the grid. There is a CT anti reflux installed. I guess its telling the inverter to limit down power generation to not exporting to the grid.

THANKS for sharing your thoughts crossy. I am not exporting that is for sure. All my considerations would be solved if the inverter would be exporting. As you see its a bit rocket science, for me at least ????

Good Idea bluejets. Now there is a hugh water tank outside with direct sun exposure all day round. That heats up the water house supply quite a bit. I like to shower hot at 40°C yes. but Wifey and the small kids like it cold. Another Idea would be a Life4Po battery. How much capacity would be a fit for the 8x 450w panels? Did you or crossy maybe come about a reasonable battery solution lately?

Thanks Crossy. I was hoping to do the export meter DIY as wifey is strictly against anything that could be against the law. Actually If the solar guy comes to our house chances are high that she will find out what could mean lost trust in each other. Would you say DIY is doable for somebody with rudimentary electrical skills and no skills in solar whatsoever?

This is the manual for the smart meter. As mentioned I haven't got a smart meter installed. At least i speculate the small manual seems to a an export section in it. Not sure if it helps:

Thanks Crossy. Its a neat install for thai standards you might mean. There is a regular manual and a small manual for "setting up Export Limiting using a smart meter". (I haven't got a smart meter ) Ps: The meter should be an ordinary style spinning disc type. Looks fine to me. iMars-MG-Manual (1).pdf

This is my first post in the Solar Subforum so please be kind. First of all thank you very much for sharing your stories and experiences about your Solar projects. It has really been a pleasure to read what you guys have been doing and it has been a motivation for me to try my own small Solar project. I am currently runnung 8x450 W mono "sunpow" panels from lazada and a 6000Watt "Invt iMars MG6KTL-2M" inverter. The panels got installed by a local Solar handyman on top of a pu enforced metalsheet roof. The Solar is running for 2 months now and the inverter is set to no grid export until now. I assume from your posts that the 8 panels would able to generate 14 units/ day in average. We are using about 5 units from the Solar when the sun is shining and we are letting go 9 units every day. I am thinking to partially feed the grid like some guys here gave advice. But is there anything to be considered when switching on/off grid feed export in the inverter menu?

The media says stopping fertilizers comes with issues. Most land is not suitable for organic or no fertilizers due to poor soil quality. A prominent example might be Sri Lanka which is at the bring of civil unrest due to food shortages. I suppose that farming in Thailand is much more autark than in other countries. But then prices of organic fertilizers must go up in price if chemical fertilizers do. Correct me when I am wrong but fact is that Thailand is importing all it's chemical fertilizers. Is there nobody seeing any upcoming issues here?

How about the fertilizer prices? There are many stories in the media about fertilizer being too expensive now so fsrmers are not able to make profit with farming.

As we all see foremost the fertilizer prices and food prices are climbing with no end in sight. Who is doing agriculture here in Thailand and has an opinion about how bad the situation will become. Please no doom and gloom.