Installing a Fronius Smart Meter gets the most out of a residential solar PV system

What is the Fronius Smart Meter?

A Fronius Smart Meter is a bidirectional meter that accurately records load curves and controls energy flows. It does not replace the existing electricity meter, nor does it send any data back to the energy supplier. When necessary it can also limit the amount of energy sent back to the grid, for example in export limitation scenarios, and complies with current DNO requirements.

The Fronius Smart Meter range is compatible with all Fronius Gen24 Plus inverters as well as all other Fronius inverters with the Fronius Datamanger 2.0. You can also use them with the Fronius Ohmpilot. For residential properties where export limitation isn’t a concern, the smart meter of choice is the TS 100A-1, currently on promotion. 

A Fronius Smart Meter for Self-consumption

The Fronius Smart Meter allows system owners to record their energy consumption which is then graphically displayed in Fronius’ free online portal, Solar.web. The intelligent system combines both the production and consumption data for the PV system enabling the system owner to better understand their energy usage, see where additional savings can be made and look at system additions such as battery storage. 

Let’s look at some of the main advantages.

• Exploit surplus energy production - By better understanding their energy usage, users can for example, shift the time appliances are set to come on in order to make the most of the energy their system is producing. Additionally, they might want to divert surplus energy to a particular device such as a water heater.
• Battery storage solution ready. You and your customer can use the data from the smart meter and inverter to see the feasibility of installing a battery in the future and accurately determine the size requirements of such a battery to ensure an optimum storage solution.
• Finding anomalies.  Users can keep an eye on their energy balance. There you can see the energy consumption per day, month, year or over the entire lifetime of the system. This enables users to compare whether they are using more power than usual and track down potentially faulty devices, which cause more electricity to be consumed.
• Sustain full control with this smart meter that does not send back data to the energy supplier.

Whether you sell and fit a smart meter when initially installing a PV system or not, always ensure your customer is connected to Solar.web – This tool can help you provide excellent service to your customer by spotting any system faults, should they occur, and resolving them quickly, but use it also as a tool to sell add-on products and services including the smart meter itself, battery storage, extended warranties and maintenance services. 

Let’s educate our customers on the advantages of solar monitoring and give them full control of their energy consumption to move closer to a world powered only by renewables.