PEA found out meter is spinning backward

[UWEB]

15 hours ago, The Fugitive said:

Interesting thank you! Am I correct in thinking that your installer is not 'approved' by PEA but, in view of the upcoming changes already mentioned in this thread, can ensure that your system is acceptable to the PEA and thus qualifies for FIT payments? Their fee for this service being 20,000 baht?   

My installer is approved by PEA, he has done quite some huge Projects in Hua Hin Area. This Registration is just to be registered with PEA and doesn't allow to Export any Power into the Grid.

[The Fugitive]

Just now, UWEB said:

My installer is approved by PEA, he has done quite some huge Projects in Hua Hin Area. This Registration is just to be registered with PEA and doesn't allow to Export any Power into the Grid.

Thank you for the clarification.

[JBChiangRai]

2 hours ago, UWEB said:

My installer is approved by PEA, he has done quite some huge Projects in Hua Hin Area. This Registration is just to be registered with PEA and doesn't allow to Export any Power into the Grid.

Why would you want to spend 20,000 baht to tell PEA you have a solar installation if you are not exporting?

[UWEB]

1 hour ago, JBChiangRai said:

Why would you want to spend 20,000 baht to tell PEA you have a solar installation if you are not exporting?

That's the first step only to get a permission for Export whenever a program like Rooftop Hero is available/open again.

[eddysacc]

On 4/16/2023 at 6:40 PM, UWEB said:

I just have started the PEA Registration Process for my new System, my Installer is doing all. Costs are 20.000 THB and will take around 3-4 month time.

Would you tell more about it?

I think there are many members here who are keenly interested in hearing your Story!

[eddysacc]

How much is the cost to get a already installed solar farm registered with PEA/MEA 

(Let's assume 5kw 1 phase)

 

Any "guesstimates"?

[MJCM]

12 minutes ago, eddysacc said:

How much is the cost to get a already installed solar farm registered with PEA/MEA 

(Let's assume 5kw 1 phase)

 

Any "guesstimates"?

Have you read this post?

 

 

and especially the last couple of sentences?

 

Was your system a DiY install? If so then not possible, if done by a approved installer then IMHO not so much but If installed by a Non approved one, my guess you will be cheaper to get a new install (maybe the approved installer can reuse some of your materials. (if they will that is another question)

[007 RED]

Going back to the original theme of the post.

 

Those of us with grid tied system that is 'linked' to an old type meter which will merrily spin backwards when the system produced excess power are all to aware that they need to ensure that their system does not export on the day the meter reader cometh.

 

This is OK if your meter is the only one on the pole.  You have a fairly good idea what day the meter read normally comes and there is little chance of the local PEA turn up at the pole unless there is a fault.  But what happens when there is more than just your meter on the pole?

 

In my case, there are 5 meters on the pole outside our house. 

 

OK the meter reader comes on the designated day and reads all the meters.  No problem.  But what happens when a neighbour has a fault, or didn't pay their bill on time. 

 

Recently my wife and I were returning home from our weekly shop when as we pulled into our Moo there to my horror was the PEA man at the pole outside of our house disconnecting the neighbour's supply.  I have to say my heart sank into my sandals anticipating that he would have spotted our meter spinning backwards.   Obviously there was nothing I could do, or say.

 

After I parked the car under our carport I immediately turned my 'patented' NO EXPORT switch on (located next to the gates) in the belated hope that it would stop any further surplus being fed back into the grid. 

 

As my wife and I walked back towards the house I heard the 'sweet sound' of the washing machine going through its spin cycle which hopefully would have drawn enough power to prevent my system from exporting prior to me activating the NO EXPORT switch. 

 

By the time I got into the house and turned on our CCTV, I saw the PEA man posting something in the neighbour's letter box and ride off on his motorbike.

 

Looking at my system's monitoring facility, it was fairly obvious that at the time the PEA man was there, my small scale system was not really producing a lot of power due to the pollution haze that we were experiencing.

 

I left the system in NO EXPORT mode and sure enough a couple of days later the PEA man was back and connecting the neighbour's supply.

 

So the moral of this is you have absolutely no control of when the PEA will turn up unannounced at your pole.  Be warned if you have more than one meter on your pole.

 

Other than switching the system to NO EXPORT every time we leave the house, has anyone any sensible suggestions as to what I can do to minimise the risk of this occurring again.

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by 007 RED

[MJCM]

20 hours ago, 007 RED said:

Other than switching the system to NO EXPORT every time we leave the house, has anyone any sensible suggestions as to what I can do to minimise the risk of this occurring again.

 

We turn our GTI’s off every time we leave the house out of risk getting “caught”.
 

Also last month we were away for over 3 weeks and all the time the system was turned off which increased our Leccy bill by almost 200%. Next month we are again away for an extended period and the system will be turned off then again as well. 

[JBChiangRai]

1 hour ago, MJCM said:

We turn our GTI’s off every time we leave the house out of risk getting “caught”.
 

Also last month we were away for over 3 weeks and all the time the system was turned off which increased our Leccy bill by almost 200%. Next month we are again away for an extended period and the system will be turned off then again as well. 

I have Sonoff Internet enabled Contactors on my Grid-Tied inverters, I can turn them off from my phone when for part of the time when I am away.

Edited April 21, 2023 by JBChiangRai

[PR3]

Was giving this a little thought, if for instance there was another consumer unit fitted between the meter and the CT clamp, theoretically you could put constant load on it ( low wattage of course) and then leave the solar powered up on no export thus powering fridges and any other necessities whilst away for extended periods.

If the meter reader turns up, it's moving in the right direction albeit ever so slowly.

Which is all very well until the constant load fails and the meter is stood still ..Lol.

Just a thought and something I'm considering myself.

All the Best

PR3

[hourlay]

I went to PEA to declare that I have solar panel.

They care about getting the info.

They do not care about knowing if it is a DIY or an unregistered installer or a registered installer.

A few weeks later they instal to my house a digital meter.

 

It's complicate to understand how the digital meter is working.

[Crossy]

25 minutes ago, hourlay said:

It's complicate to understand how the digital meter is working.

 

Do you mean the actual technical workings of the electronics? 

OR

Are you confused by the available displays?

[JBChiangRai]

My friends forgot to pay their PEA bill whilst overseas on holiday, they came to disconnect the meter and probably saw it spinning in reverse.  Now they want to make an appointment to change it for a digital one.

 

My neighbour has just installed an expensive Hybrid solar system and told PEA, I suspect they will change his meter for digital too.

[FritsSikkink]

On 3/6/2023 at 8:20 AM, MJCM said:

Doubt that is going to happen for example with all those companies installing Solar. For example the Toyota dealer near the Stadium is installing a .... load of Solar Panels at the moment.

 

Edit: And IMHO that would be a dumb move if the government goes that far, everywhere they are trying to go green but of course TiT

Agree, very unlikely as one of the big companies in Thailand is involved with solar: Why WHA Solar | WHA Utilities & Power (wha-up.com)

[007 RED]

Back to the original post = PEA found out meter running backwards.

 

Back in October I posted (ROI After 2 Years) that my small scall GTI system had been operational for 2 years, and that during that time it had produced nearly 6,000 units, which had knocked almost 25,000 THB off our electricity bills.

 

At the end of my post, I indicated that I would not do anything more with the system unless our local PEA decided to swap the lovely spinning disc meter for a new shinny digital one.  Well, that end thought almost came true recently.

 

About 6 weeks ago, my wife was at a hospital in BKK for a routine medical check up and was just about to be called in to see the doctor when she received a phone call. 

 

The caller stated that he was from the PEA and that he was coming to the house the following day to fit a digital meter.  He asked if she would be home around 10am.  He then asked if she had claimed a refund on the original meter installation.  My wife advised the caller that she would be at home but that she couldn't remember if she had claimed the refund.  Because she was being called into see the doctor, she had to end the call.

 

After seeing the doctor, she called me to advise me about the phone call.  You can image what was went through my mind, namely, how the heck did the PEA find out that we had solar?  The system can’t be seen from the roadway outside the house/car port.  Did they see the meter spinning backwards whilst we were not at home?  Had someone ‘grassed’ on us?

 

When my wife got home, she spoke to several of the neighbours whose meters share the pole outside our house, and none had received a call from the PEA.  So, were we the only one to have our meter changed?

 

So, with the possibility of the PEA turning up next day to replace our spinning disc meter, I decided to play safe and turn the solar system completely off.

 

The following day we waited patiently for the PEA to arrive.  10am came and went.  12 noon passed.  5pm elapsed and still no sign of anyone from the PEA.  So, my wife called the mobile number that had rung her the previous day to try and find out what was happening.  Despite several attempts to call the number there was no reply.

 

As we were usure as to when the PEA might turn up, I decided to leave the system turned off until they had been.  A week passed and still no sign of the PEA.  After another week I turned the system back on in ON EXPORT mode, so that at least we would get some power produced by the system, but the meter should not spin backwards.  After a further week, and still no sign of the PEA, or further phone calls, I turned the system back on into EXPORT mode.  To date, other than the normal meter reader, there has been no sign of any PEA, thankfully.  Perhaps I should not speak to soon.

 

In hindsight, I now believe that this may have been some sort of scam call that did not play out because: a) my wife needed to end because she had been called to see the doctor; b)  my wife is certain that the caller did not mention the house number during their brief conversation; c)  why did the caller not answer the phone (it was a mobile number); and d) if he was from the PEA as he said, he should have been able to look up on their computer system if my wife had claimed/received a refund for the original meter.

 

Because of this event, I’ve decided to upgrade my small system, as @Crossy suggested in my ROI post, by initially adding a few extra panels and possibly running the system in NO EXPORT mode to just cover day time needs.

 

Thinking longer term, a hybrid inverter with more panels is a possibility, but without being attached to any ESS.  Given my age (77), with the probability that I will fall off my perch at some time, my darling wife has indicated that she does not feel confident enough to look after a battery system.

 

Moral of the story.... Spinning the disc backwards has its rewards, but also its downside.

Edited December 27, 2023 by 007 RED
typo

[Crossy]

Yeah, we had a near-miss back in June.

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1120934-how-about-a-solar-car-port-on-a-budget/?do=findComment&comment=18151424

 

No phone calls but Madam did speak to "a man" on or near meter day (not the meter reader) who asked if she wanted an electronic meter because ours was "very old", she played dumb and said she was the maid. Nothing more heard.

 

Apart from new installations, nobody in the village has got an electronic meter, long may it remain like that

 

 

[MJCM]

 

2 hours ago, Crossy said:

Yeah, we had a near-miss back in June.

 

Same here, and back then nothing (fortunately) happened and we still have the old style meter. 

 

But we are upgrading the house we bought next door and also upgrading the electrical system in that house from 5/15A to 15/45A we contacted the PEA and we will also get an Electronic Meter to replace the old 5/15A one.

 

Now I am wondering how long it will take for them to exchange all the meters in our Soi (inclu the one in our House)

 

edit: Maybe by upgrading the electricity for the next door house we are getting unwanted attention

Edited December 27, 2023 by MJCM

[The Fugitive]

2 hours ago, 007 RED said:

Back to the original post = PEA found out meter running backwards.

 

Back in October I posted (ROI After 2 Years) that my small scall GTI system had been operational for 2 years, and that during that time it had produced nearly 6,000 units, which had knocked almost 25,000 THB off our electricity bills.

 

At the end of my post, I indicated that I would not do anything more with the system unless our local PEA decided to swap the lovely spinning disc meter for a new shinny digital one.  Well, that end thought almost came true recently.

 

About 6 weeks ago, my wife was at a hospital in BKK for a routine medical check up and was just about to be called in to see the doctor when she received a phone call. 

 

The caller stated that he was from the PEA and that he was coming to the house the following day to fit a digital meter.  He asked if she would be home around 10am.  He then asked if she had claimed a refund on the original meter installation.  My wife advised the caller that she would be at home but that she couldn't remember if she had claimed the refund.  Because she was being called into see the doctor, she had to end the call.

 

After seeing the doctor, she called me to advise me about the phone call.  You can image what was went through my mind, namely, how the heck did the PEA find out that we had solar?  The system can’t be seen from the roadway outside the house/car port.  Did they see the meter spinning backwards whilst we were not at home?  Had someone ‘grassed’ on us?

 

When my wife got home, she spoke to several of the neighbours whose meters share the pole outside our house, and none had received a call from the PEA.  So, were we the only one to have our meter changed?

 

So, with the possibility of the PEA turning up next day to replace our spinning disc meter, I decided to play safe and turn the solar system completely off.

 

The following day we waited patiently for the PEA to arrive.  10am came and went.  12 noon passed.  5pm elapsed and still no sign of anyone from the PEA.  So, my wife called the mobile number that had rung her the previous day to try and find out what was happening.  Despite several attempts to call the number there was no reply.

 

As we were usure as to when the PEA might turn up, I decided to leave the system turned off until they had been.  A week passed and still no sign of the PEA.  After another week I turned the system back on in ON EXPORT mode, so that at least we would get some power produced by the system, but the meter should not spin backwards.  After a further week, and still no sign of the PEA, or further phone calls, I turned the system back on into EXPORT mode.  To date, other than the normal meter reader, there has been no sign of any PEA, thankfully.  Perhaps I should not speak to soon.

 

In hindsight, I now believe that this may have been some sort of scam call that did not play out because: a) my wife needed to end because she had been called to see the doctor; b)  my wife is certain that the caller did not mention the house number during their brief conversation; c)  why did the caller not answer the phone (it was a mobile number); and d) if he was from the PEA as he said, he should have been able to look up on their computer system if my wife had claimed/received a refund for the original meter.

 

Because of this event, I’ve decided to upgrade my small system, as @Crossy suggested in my ROI post, by initially adding a few extra panels and possibly running the system in NO EXPORT mode to just cover day time needs.

 

Thinking longer term, a hybrid inverter with more panels is a possibility, but without being attached to any ESS.  Given my age (77), with the probability that I will fall off my perch at some time, my darling wife has indicated that she does not feel confident enough to look after a battery system.

 

Moral of the story.... Spinning the disc backwards has its rewards, but also its downside.

Thanks for your update! Living with uncertainty from day-to-day makes life more interesting. I've enjoyed ten years of lower bills in the UK thanks to the totally free 'rent a roof' scheme. No feed-in tariff or meter spinning in reverse (had a digital one at time of installation, now replaced with Smart meter). Been trying to persuade my Mrs to instal solar without success. Our electrician friend does all sorts of weird and wonderful things with solar panels and car batteries but only for lighting purposes. He says solar is no good for running air conditioners. House is unoccupied from 7am until around 9 or 10pm. Average monthly bill 2,000 baht.   

[sjk65]

Ok guys, here's my experience.

 

A guy took my spinning meter and changed it for a digital one.  

 

So after reading this topic, I switched my SOLAX in NO EXPORT, disabled it.

Took a photo of the meter after 1 day, reading g 28Kwh.  Took another picture this morning showing 39kwh.

Yesterday I not used solar, system shut down.

 

Today I was playing with the export settings and enabled the system maybe for 10 or 15 minutes.

 

Took another photo.....WTF... the meter was showing 17kwh instead of 39 or more.

 

So who can tell me or explain what T F happens.

 

Seems that someone or something is playing with the figures.

On the photo of 39kwh, the left figures were 000 and on the 2nd I see 300

 

 

Edited December 28, 2023 by sjk65

[JBChiangRai]

33 minutes ago, sjk65 said:

Ok guys, here's my experience.

 

A guy took my spinning meter and changed it for a digital one.  

 

So after reading this topic, I switched my SOLAX in NO EXPORT, disabled it.

Took a photo of the meter after 1 day, reading g 28Kwh.  Took another picture this morning showing 39kwh.

Yesterday I not used solar, system shut down.

 

Today I was playing with the export settings and enabled the system maybe for 10 or 15 minutes.

 

Took another photo.....WTF... the meter was showing 17kwh instead of 39 or more.

 

So who can tell me or explain what T F happens.

 

Seems that someone or something is playing with the figures.

On the photo of 39kwh, the left figures were 000 and on the 2nd I see 300

 

 

Please post a picture of today’s reading.

 

Your previous two pictures are from Memory 2 on the meter, it’s possible you aren’t reading from the same memory.

 

Sometimes there’s some text in the corner of the display telling you the type of memory, eg Import, Export, Cheap Rate etc etc

[Muhendis]

All this newfangled technology is a bit daunting so I though I would take a look around google and this is what I found:-

https://pattaya-pages.com/pea-smart-plus-app-for-remotely-checking-electricity-meter-readings-electricity-consumption-statistics-by-hour-day-and-month-and-much-more/#2

It may be totally unrelated to the digital meter problem but on the other hand............

[sjk65]

1 hour ago, JBChiangRai said:

Please post a picture of today’s reading.

 

Your previous two pictures are from Memory 2 on the meter, it’s possible you aren’t reading from the same memory.

 

Sometimes there’s some text in the corner of the display telling you the type of memory, eg Import, Export, Cheap Rate etc etc

 

1 hour ago, JBChiangRai said:

Please post a picture of today’s reading.

 

Your previous two pictures are from Memory 2 on the meter, it’s possible you aren’t reading from the same memory.

 

Sometimes there’s some text in the corner of the display telling you the type of memory, eg Import, Export, Cheap Rate etc etc

Pictures took today,  I don't have the knowledge to change something on the meter.  If you can....please explain and I make new

[The Fugitive]

3 minutes ago, sjk65 said:

 

Pictures took today,  I don't have the knowledge to change something on the meter.  If you can....please explain and I make new

Maybe if you downloaded the user guide; https://www.smartttc.com/en/download

[motdaeng]

i believe different code such as 000 or 300 also implies a different reading ... but who knows the codes? 

 

[sjk65]

On 12/29/2023 at 9:18 AM, motdaeng said:

i believe different code such as 000 or 300 also implies a different reading ... but who knows the codes? 

 

Yes that's true,  find something on YouTube but talking is in Thai 😊.  

[007 RED]

On 12/27/2023 at 1:43 PM, 007 RED said:

Back to the original post = PEA found out meter running backwards.

 

Back in October I posted (ROI After 2 Years) that my small scall GTI system had been operational for 2 years, and that during that time it had produced nearly 6,000 units, which had knocked almost 25,000 THB off our electricity bills.

 

At the end of my post, I indicated that I would not do anything more with the system unless our local PEA decided to swap the lovely spinning disc meter for a new shinny digital one.  Well, that end thought almost came true recently.

 

About 6 weeks ago, my wife was at a hospital in BKK for a routine medical check up and was just about to be called in to see the doctor when she received a phone call. 

 

The caller stated that he was from the PEA and that he was coming to the house the following day to fit a digital meter.  He asked if she would be home around 10am.  He then asked if she had claimed a refund on the original meter installation.  My wife advised the caller that she would be at home but that she couldn't remember if she had claimed the refund.  Because she was being called into see the doctor, she had to end the call.

 

After seeing the doctor, she called me to advise me about the phone call.  You can image what was went through my mind, namely, how the heck did the PEA find out that we had solar?  The system can’t be seen from the roadway outside the house/car port.  Did they see the meter spinning backwards whilst we were not at home?  Had someone ‘grassed’ on us?

 

When my wife got home, she spoke to several of the neighbours whose meters share the pole outside our house, and none had received a call from the PEA.  So, were we the only one to have our meter changed?

 

So, with the possibility of the PEA turning up next day to replace our spinning disc meter, I decided to play safe and turn the solar system completely off.

 

The following day we waited patiently for the PEA to arrive.  10am came and went.  12 noon passed.  5pm elapsed and still no sign of anyone from the PEA.  So, my wife called the mobile number that had rung her the previous day to try and find out what was happening.  Despite several attempts to call the number there was no reply.

 

As we were usure as to when the PEA might turn up, I decided to leave the system turned off until they had been.  A week passed and still no sign of the PEA.  After another week I turned the system back on in ON EXPORT mode, so that at least we would get some power produced by the system, but the meter should not spin backwards.  After a further week, and still no sign of the PEA, or further phone calls, I turned the system back on into EXPORT mode.  To date, other than the normal meter reader, there has been no sign of any PEA, thankfully.  Perhaps I should not speak to soon.

 

In hindsight, I now believe that this may have been some sort of scam call that did not play out because: a) my wife needed to end because she had been called to see the doctor; b)  my wife is certain that the caller did not mention the house number during their brief conversation; c)  why did the caller not answer the phone (it was a mobile number); and d) if he was from the PEA as he said, he should have been able to look up on their computer system if my wife had claimed/received a refund for the original meter.

 

Because of this event, I’ve decided to upgrade my small system, as @Crossy suggested in my ROI post, by initially adding a few extra panels and possibly running the system in NO EXPORT mode to just cover day time needs.

 

Thinking longer term, a hybrid inverter with more panels is a possibility, but without being attached to any ESS.  Given my age (77), with the probability that I will fall off my perch at some time, my darling wife has indicated that she does not feel confident enough to look after a battery system.

 

Moral of the story.... Spinning the disc backwards has its rewards, but also its downside.

Well blow me down.  Yesterday at around 6:30pm my better half received a phone call from a woman who introduced herself as being from the local PEA.  She asked my wife if she lived at number XX.  My wife replied yes.  The woman then said that they (the PEA) were going to replace the meter tomorrow and would my wife be at home at 10 am.  Strange that this was exactly the same time as mentioned by the caller the last time in November.  My wife again replied that she would be at home in the morning.

 

The woman then asked my wife if she had claimed a rebate from her original meter.  This obviously rang a bell with my better half as it was the same question that the man had asked the previous time, but my wife had to terminate the call as she was being called in to see the doctor at hospital.  So my wife decided to play along and indicated that she had not.  The woman then said that she would send my wife an SMS and instructed her to click on the link and complete the questions so that a refund could be transferred to her account.  This really stunk of being a scam to get her bank details.  It was also very obvious that the woman was reading from the same script as the previous caller from the PEA in November.

 

Bless her, my wife really had her head screwed on.  She asked the woman why it was necessary to change the meter again as it had only just been replaced in November.   The phone suddenly went dead.  My wife tried to call the number back but there was no reply. 

 

As my wife said,  the PEA don't make appointments to change the meter.  They just turn up and change it.  Apart from that she's cute enough to realise that the SMS link was highly likely to contain a bug which would hack her phone and any bank details she had on it.

 

Today just as a precaution I put my small scale GTI system into NO EXPORT mode.  Dam, it was a nice sunny day and the system should have produced 7 or 8 units.  Like the last time in November there was no sign of anyone from the PEA and thankfully we still have our nice spinning meter, so tomorrow were going back to Export mode.

 

I have already obtained a couple more 415W mono half cut solar panels (same make and nearly the same price that I apaid 2 years ago) and started installing the mounts on the car port roof.  The next job is to get the panels up there and installed.  Hopefully this additional capacity will allow us to go full time on NO EXPORT if required and produce sufficient power to meet our day time needs whilst keeping our PEA bill down.

 

All good fun.

[MJCM]

Thx for the heads up @007 RED  I have warned my wife and other family members.

 

There is another scam going on with callers pretending to be PEA, they are calling to say that we have late payment of the electric bill. My wife just hangs up on them.

 

Wow these guys (read scammers) try everything

[007 RED]

A few members have in the past commented that there are no real consequences if you get caught for having a grid tied solar system which has not been approved and your system spins the old style meter backwards.  If I recall correctly those members advised that at worst the PEA will just change the spinning meter for a new electronic one so that you can’t spin the meter backwards in future and that they never take any action against that solar system owner.

 

FYI

Not far from my home, there is a multi-lane flyover which crosses a major arterial road out of Bangkok.  A couple of years ago, whilst driving over the flyover, I noticed that a town house (on my left) had installed a substantial array of solar panels on the roof.  The array is very obvious as you drive over the flyover as you are almost level with the top of the building.  See screen shot below from Google Earth.

 

Recently, whilst my better half was driving, I noticed as we passed the solar panels there was something odd about the backside of the panels.  See screen shot below from Google Earth.

 

Can you spot that something is wrong?  Look closely at the junction boxes on the rear of the panels.  There are no cables coming from them.

 

Being somewhat curious as to why the solar panels didn’t have any connecting cables, I decided to stop at the townhouse over the weekend and asked the owner if he wouldn’t mind enlightening me about his solar system.  He was very obliging. 

 

He explained that he had the solar system installed by a local company 3 or 4 years ago to help reduce his electricity bill.  He said that he was never made aware that he needed to have the system approved, or the risks of having his meter spinning backwards.

 

Early last year, the local PEA knocked on the door and advised him that they had observed that his meter was spinning backwards.  They advised that his account showed a considerable reduction in his electrical usage during previous years.  They also said that they had seen his solar panels on his roof and asked to see his system.

 

The house owner told me that the PEA officers informed him that if he did not allow them access to inspect the solar system, they would get a Court order and return with the police.  He decided to allow them to inspect his system.

 

The upshot was his grid tied system was illegal (meter spinning backwards and no approval). 

 

The PEA officers gave him a choice, either have the system disconnect or face Court proceedings for theft which could result in a very substantial fine, plus compensation for their loss of income.

 

The homeowner said the PEA officers advised that if he allowed them to disconnect the system there and then, they would not take any further action against him because he had co-operated.

 

He said he obviously opted to have the system disconnected.  The PEA engineer then cut off all the leads from the back of the solar panels which has rendered the panels useless.  They also cut off all the cables to/from the inverter.  He also said that a few days later the PEA installed a new electronic meter without any warning.

 

According to the homeowner, the installations set him back a couple of hundred thousand Baht.  He said that he realised that if he had not co-operated with the PEA, it was clear that not only would he have ended up having the system disconnected by a Court Order, but he would also face having to pay a heavy fine plus compensation to the PEA for their loss of income.

 

In my opinion, I suspect his unfortunate downfall was most likely due to the obvious visibility of his solar array which cannot be missed when driving over the flyover.  No doubt a local PEA officer spotted it and started making enquiries.

 

OUCH!

[Crossy]

1 hour ago, 007 RED said:

A few members have in the past commented that there are no real consequences if you get caught for having a grid tied solar system which has not been approved and your system spins the old style meter backwards.  If I recall correctly those members advised that at worst the PEA will just change the spinning meter for a new electronic one so that you can’t spin the meter backwards in future and that they never take any action against that solar system owner.

 

Thanks for this, this is the first report we've had of actual serious consequences from spinning the meter backwards.

 

I'm not sure about the legality of the PEA actually damaging private property but the home owner permitted it so ...

 

I would certainly not recommend the owners of large systems relying upon simply not getting caught which is the main reason we are in the process of upgrading to hybrid inverters with energy storage, if it were grid-tie our system would be well outside the allowable system parameters.

 

I suspect he's well above the 5kWp permitted for single-phase grid tie, maybe that's what upset PEA, looks like two arrays of 18 panels each.

 

By the way, it's not exactly difficult to replace those cut off cables and bring the array back into service. He would need a new hybrid inverter and energy storage of course.