Solar Sheds & Other Non-t6 Solar Projects - How We Done It -

[Sackmycook]

There is definitely a north-south divide on this.
The Northern DCC relies on long Wave radio signals operated by Arquiva. They have major signal congestion, hence the poor reception in rural northern areas.

 

[Linoleum Bonypart]

Dunno if this may be useful to someone
I had a right carry on getting a duff smart meter swapped and working with octopus it ran into 2 months of useless contact with octopus customer services … then a solar Facebook group told me to DM the ceo direct on X … it turns out there’s a couple of girls run this and they indeed get things moving …. Greg Jackson @g__j

 

[Dellmassive]

Octopus MINI should be the way to go.

That uses ure own WIFI to send data back.

Not sure why these guys are still trying over GSM and LWR.

There must be a reason.

But defo keep chasing Octopus for the Home Mini.

 

[Sackmycook]

@Dellmassive

Quote - "We’re also looking at using the Wi-Fi signal in the home, this is still in the early stages of development at this time. As we are licenced to operate the Smart Metering Network by Government and funded by industry national roll out of any solution would be subject to business case approval by the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). "

DCC

 

[Dellmassive]

Chase em

I've got one and it works great.

 

[roadtripper]

The mini is good (I've got one) but they don't use it for billing data.

It registers as an IHD and sends the data to them over your broadband, this is then used to show the live data in the app but also fills in the current day consumption. Overnight that data is replaced with the authoritative data via DCC.

The reason this is not done is that there is obviously a great incentive to tamper with the billing data given the cost of energy. It is extremely difficult to intercept GSM/LTE or indeed Longwave airside connections. With the Comms hardware in the meter it's also near impossible to physically tinker with it - at least not in a way that doesn't leave evidence that you've done so

However routing through a network the home owner has full control over opens up a lot more possiblity of interception, even good encryption can be vulnerable if you have control over the hardware and have time to analyse. It only needs enough smart people to figure it out and publish a project on GitHub or sell a magic box on eBay.

So while I can see more folks doing clever things with making the data available for monitoring and automation (and the standards expected that, it's why you have devices that can join the local meter ZigBee network like an IHD) I think it will be a good long while before the authoritative data used for billing goes through homeowners networks.

 

[Dellmassive]

The mini is good (I've got one) but they don't use it for billing data.

It registers as an IHD and sends the data to them over your broadband, this is then used to show the live data in the app but also fills in the current day consumption. Overnight that data is replaced with the authoritative data via DCC.

The reason this is not done is that there is obviously a great incentive to tamper with the billing data given the cost of energy. It is extremely difficult to intercept GSM/LTE or indeed Longwave airside connections. With the Comms hardware in the meter it's also near impossible to physically tinker with it - at least not in a way that doesn't leave evidence that you've done so

However routing through a network the home owner has full control over opens up a lot more possiblity of interception, even good encryption can be vulnerable if you have control over the hardware and have time to analyse. It only needs enough smart people to figure it out and publish a project on GitHub or sell a magic box on eBay.

So while I can see more folks doing clever things with making the data available for monitoring and automation (and the standards expected that, it's why you have devices that can join the local meter ZigBee network like an IHD) I think it will be a good long while before the authoritative data used for billing goes through homeowners networks.

Makes sense.

 

[Sackmycook]

@roadtripper
This is the vipe I get from the DCC.

It's the bit where they say the system was designed to basically never work for 0.7% of homes deemed too rural, that gets my goat.

 

[Sackmycook]

So, interesting piece on the BBC this morning regarding the north-south divide over connecting to DCC for smart Metering.....

BBC News - Energy smart meter issues creating north-south divide - BBC News

Energy smart meter issues creating north-south divide

Technology differences mean meters in northern England and Scotland may not work properly, energy firm body admits.

www.bbc.co.uk

Some guy in a similar situation has come up with a 'fix'......

I may try it.....

But where do I get the hardware?

 

[Huba]

I have seen that done on other forums, with varying results. Worth a try. As mentioned previously the whole system is a shambles, shouldnt require the homeowner moving things (like I did) to get things working.

 

[Sackmycook]

This goes into more detail :-

 

[roadtripper]

@roadtripper
This is the vipe I get from the DCC.

It's the bit where they say the system was designed to basically never work for 0.7% of homes deemed too rural, that gets my goat.

Totally agree, not using the home owners network is one thing, using a network that's crap at the job is another, and I think it's turning out to be a lot more then 0.7%

There are good reasons to use both the mobile network and Longwave - seems strange to not use whichever one works best in the area for procedural reasons.

It's not ideal in areas that use the mobile network either because it rather depends on who the contract is with at any one time. It's currently with Telefonica (O2) but it's moving to Vodafone as they move away from 2/3G based to 4G starting about now. Folks with working 2/3G meters may find over the transition they can't move to 4G - or at least 4G with the network that has the contract.

Technical information on UK SMETS 2 Smart Meters

How do SMETS 2 Smart Meters communicate and which models are SMETS 2? What do the comms hubs and aerials look like? What do the LEDs on the hubs mean?

www.smartme.co.uk

 

[Sackmycook]

The cost of smart meter rollout is around 15 billion quid !
Astonishing !!
The waste of money this country suffers at the hands of incompetent govt is unbelievable.
Smart Meters, HS2, Smart Motorways, emergency services radio, NHS procurement.
You really couldn't write it and no-one seems accountable

 

[roadtripper]

Unfortunately a lot of it isn't down to incompetence it's down to there being no incentive for long term thinking or seeing things through if the project is longer than the term in parliament, so the projects thrash around as various people tinker with them in light of public opinion.

Even if done competently the changes of direction either impact time, quality or cost, usually all three. A bit like taking your van around 3 different converters as the job progresses rather than letting one just finish it.

It's those type of infrastructure projects we do seem to particularly struggle with in the UK.

 

[Sackmycook]

Thanks for that link, very interesting reading. If I'm reading it right, all the 2g/3g comms hubs in properties in the South and Midlands will need switching out for 4g versions? That's mammoth!

Coupled with the impending smart water meter rollout, this could get very messy

 

[z1ts]

A bit like taking your van around 3 different converters as the job progresses rather than letting one just finish it.

Very succinct analogy that and one that affects SO many public sector projects, software rollouts, road network improvements, healthcare changes - basically everything in the public sector thinking about it!

If the benefit (profit) can't be achieved in the term of gvntmnt remaining then they're not really interested!

Something that will have a couple of years' pain for a couple of decades gain just isn't on the agenda unfortunately! Despite government's cries of doing things for the 'long-term-good'!!