Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 22 November 2018 (HL11417), whether SMETS compliant electricity meters are capable of producing a statement of solar panel units used as a percentage of total usage.

In order to produce a statement of solar panel electricity units used in a premises as a percentage of total usage, a premises would require multiple meters: a meter to record the amount of electricity generated by on-site renewables; and at least one meter to record the amount of electricity exported from the premises to the grid and the amount of electricity imported from the grid to the premises.

Most traditional meters are not able to measure the amount of electricity being exported so it would be necessary to have at least three separate meters to produce the required statement.

In contrast, all SMETS compliant electricity meters are capable of recording any electricity that is exported to the grid from on-site renewable generation sources, such as solar panels, net of the electricity from on-site renewables which is used within the premises. By combining two SMETS compliant meters in one premises – one operating as a generation meter for the on-site renewables and one to measure the import and export of electricity to and from the grid – it would be possible to produce the required statement. In each case, the smart meters would also be capable of recording generation and consumption on a half-hourly basis and the data would be available remotely.