DesertBurner

Just to add on - when I'm actually using from the grid, like now, the Engage Efergy CT is spot on to the inverter CT for the grid. It's just when I'm 100% on solar and I'm supposed to only have the 20w trickle feed through the prepaid meter that things go haywire.

Managed to try mine as well (remote access) - also no success. I'm not exactly sure why it happens that way it does but I'm certainly not using any units of my prepaid, just the reading is incorrect. Which is a pain if you're trying to gauge how much solar is working for you.

Hi Gavin, Thanks for the tip - I will try that as soon as I'm home again. (Next week.)

Hi Scorp007, I do have a pic of the front display of my inverter, taken at the same time as the others - unfortunately, the Grid reading dropped from 20w to 0w as I took the pic. I've uploaded it anyway. Since this is an interesting concept for me, I'd still like to figure it out.

Hi Scorp007, That's what has me confused as well. Eskom should be low because I'm generating my own power from the panels & battery. And Eskom IS actually low because my prepaid meter does not use any units during the period that I'm effectively on solar. It's just the odd high current reading that both the prepaid meter & the Engage unit shows. What's odd is that the prepaid meter shows both low Wattage consumption (as does my Sunsynk) but it also shows a high Amp reading, as does my Engage? I did attach photographs to my original post, were you able to view them? I'll gladly take more pics if required. This "issue" is not causing any problems, it's just odd and I'd like to get to the bottom of it for my own sanity.

Hi Scorp007, Thanks for the explanation. I think I sort of understand what you're getting at regarding the VA vs W values but if I'm only pulling 20W through the prepaid meter, then why the high A value? I can't wrap my head around that part. I didn't think current could just be "stationary" in a line. (If that makes sense 😏) Prior to the solar install, the Eskom line was the House line, so only W would have been read. Since the Sunsynk (8kW hybrid) was installed, there is now a separation of incoming (Eskom) and supply (House.) The only thing I can think of is it's because the Sunsynk "blends" Eskom & it's own Vac to feed the house? I tend to trust the prepaid meter of course, but I'd just like to figure out how the Engage is managing to now measure VA instead of W?

Hi all, Prior to my solar installation in January, I was monitoring my house energy consumption using the Engage Efergy devices. I actually found them to be reasonably spot on when I compared what they logged my kWh consumption was vs. what my prepaid electricity meter said I'd used. Once my solar was installed, I decided to use a spare CT that I had to monitor the Eskom side of the line while still monitoring what overall house consumption was. This was just out of interest to see how little kWh I was actually buying from Eskom (online vs checking the prepaid meter.) My CT on the house pretty much matches what my Sunsynk 8kW inverter says the house is using. It also matches my ancient OWL standalone digital display that I've had for years. However, the CT on the Eskom side is waaaay off, especially on lower consumption values. I tested the CT on a known resistive load of 2kW and it reads 100%. Even when I measure the current with my multimeter. I've even swapped the CT's over, so the original house CT is now on Eskom and vice versa. My prepaid meter has a local display which gives quite a bit of info, which is very handy. So when I'm only using the 20w "trickle" amount that Sunsynk specifies to prevent the prepaid meter from getting confused, the inverter display matches what the prepaid meter says it is supplying - give or take a few watts. But what's confusing, is my Engage Efergy CT is showing a rather large kW reading? To add more confusion, my prepaid meter also shows a large A reading, which if you multiply by the voltage (ignoring the reactive part for now, just for ease of calculation) basically confirms what the Efergy CT says. On the attached pic, on the Engage dashboard, my Eskom value is 1.57kW, divided by 230V (which is the fixed AC Voltage typed in on the settings) - this gives 6.82A. On the pic of my prepaid meter, the current reading is 5.728A, multiplied by the 231Vac reading on the meter, gives 1.32kW. The next pic of the prepaid meter shows a kW reading of 34W, sort of close to the Sunsynk trickle value. Bear in mind there are a few seconds between all these pictures being taken, so I cannot get them to be exact but it does illustrate my point. Can anyone explain to me why I have such a large current value and yet such a low wattage value? My inverter is set to zero export as well. I'd love to get an explanation for this weird reading? Many thanks, Shaun.