Consumption Monitoring

What is consumption monitoring?

Consumption monitoring is an optional feature of the Enphase system that measures the energy usage in your home. In California, due to utility regulations only 30% of electrical panels have the ability to accomodate Enphase consumption Current Transformers (CTs).

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 Enphase App interface. Consumption metering refers to the hardware installed to enable the monitoring.

Consumption monitoring requires the installation of an Envoy-S or IQ Gateway 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 (for North American systems). Sensing lines from the CTs are then connected to the Gateway. And finally, the Gateway must be configured to correctly report sensed data to the Enphase Cloud. Most electrical panels (breaker boxes) support the installation of consumption CTs.

Why is My Solar Production Mirroring my Solar Consumption?

This can occur due to multiple reasons. CT monitoring sensors are extremely sensitive, finicky and can trip from small movement to a power surge. Forme Solar will include CT monitoring whenever possible but any maintenance or support for this optional feature will be charged for unless otherwise agreed upon. 

Will My Electrical Service Panel Support CTs?

We will assess your site to determine whether your electrical service panel will support the installation of the required hardware. 

Why Can't My Electrical Panel Support CTs?

We will assess your site to determine whether your electrical service panel will support the installation of the required hardware. 

CT monitoring sensors are large, inflexible and need to envelope specific wires to properly read how much power a home consumes. CTs are also extremely sensitive and cannot touch each other. Not all electrical panels can accomodate CT monitors.