What is consumption monitoring?

Consumption monitoring is an optional feature of the Enphase system that measures the energy usage in your home. You may hear consumption monitoring referred to as energy usage monitoring or consumption metering. These terms are largely interchangeable, with a couple of nuances. You monitor or view your consumption on the MyEnlighten interface. Consumption metering refers to the hardware installed to enable the monitoring.

Consumption monitoring requires the installation of an Envoy-S Metered and optional hardware called current transformers (CTs). There is some complexity to the installation and configuration of consumption monitoring. First, two CTs are installed around the energy use (load) circuits at your home to measure use on both electrical lines. Sensing lines from the CTs are then connected to the Envoy. And finally, the Envoy must be configured to correctly report sensed data to Enlighten. Most electrical panels (breaker boxes) support the installation of consumption CTs. 

Systems installed with consumption monitoring will also have solar production metering installed. Production metering provides a greater level of accuracy for reporting purposes and is suitable for billing applications, like those required for leased systems or for utility feed-in tariffs. Enphase production metering is certified as a "revenue grade" solution with measurement accuracy of +/- 0.5%.

If you are interested in production or consumption monitoring, contact your installer about these features. Your installer will assess your site to determine whether your electrical service panel will support the installation of the required hardware. If your installer is unfamiliar with either of these features, we have online resources and classes to get them up to speed.

Production and consumption meters are required for energy storage with Enphase AC Batteries.