I have a Square D load center, that is, a Smart Meter combined with the breaker panel all in one unit. The challenge I have with it is that after the Smart Meter the power is fed to the main breaker with two cables for each the hot and the neutral to the main breaker (four wires going into main). Because of this setup, I can only put the sensors on two of the four wires, so my consumption is inaccurate by 1/2x. I don’t see any way to place the load sensors after the Smart Meter. The terminals splitting the hot/neutral into four cables is just after the meter. Here’s a stock photo showing the setup:
The question is how can I optimize this setup so the readings are accurate. I am also concerned the device categorization models won’t work properly with this setup.
Already, the graphs seem quite confused with my solar setup.The load shows up as proportional to the solar generation – this is not correct. It seems to be calculated based on the difference between measured solar output and measured back feed to grid. Since my load measurement (back feed while generating) is 1/2 expected, then I have this incorrect load reported. At night time, I can see the load as 1/2 what I see on my Smart Meter:
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks!
I don’t think you will have success with the Sense Solar Monitor until you get the CTs around the pairs of Mains wires. It appears from the photo there is a bit of play on the black wires and perhaps adusting the red wires position would give you enough space to squeeze a CT around them.
I had similar start up issues with my Solar readings, went through several iteration with the "support " team (5 or more ) , each involving resets from there end and then a Solar Calibration sequence. In the end the Sense started working one day after I complained over and over via the Problem Reports link. There was talk of "talking to the engineer " but I never corresponded with that enity. Always a day or two for a support cycle.
Just this weekend my Sense Monitor reading went negative on the left Mains column with 0 on the right Mains and Solar column. After two days Sense Support suggested a Solar Calibration and that fixed the issue. Still have small negative readings on the left Mains from time to time, usually at night or when solar power has not started in the morning.
I suggest a Solar Calibration cycle but the split Mains power sensing may be the culprit.
Edit : Another thought would be to replace the short Mains wires with longer ones of the same gage, this is probably the best way to go.
@jeff.budzinski, unfortunately it looks like you have a parallel feed configuration which we currently don’t support. You are right that device detection would not be able to proceed properly. We’re looking into solutions to better accommodate this configuration in the future, but for now the best to do would to get an RMA (full refund). You can do this by reaching out to support@sense.com and mentioning that you need an RMA due to a parallel feed setup.
I’m really sorry that I can’t be of more help on this!
