Geo Chorus PV display User manual

Chorus PV display 1

Chorus PV display

USER MANUAL

Chorus PV display2

Welcome 3

Safety 3

What’s in the box? 4

Seng up 5

Display overview 9

Using your display 10

• Electricity app

• Income app

Time periods

Calculate your income:

 Feed-intari(FiT)/generaontari

 Deeming/exporttari

PV array size

 Calculateyoursavings

• Cost app

Sengabudget

Makingsavings

• Environment app

Making the most of your electricity 16

 • Generaonvs.Import

 • Topps

Energynote online service 18

Oponal extras 19

Pairing 20

FAQs 21

Technical specicaons 22

Notes 23

Contents

Chorus PV display 3

Welcome to geo’s Chorus PV, our advanced

energy management service for homes

withPV(solar)arrays.

The Chorus allows you to take control of

your energy by monitoring home use and

solar generaon at the same me. The

Choruslearnsyournormalusagepaerns

for each day of the week, so the display

can tell you when to use electricity at the

most ecient mes – meaning you can

reduceyourbillsandsavemoney.

Knowing your energy paerns will help

you set realisc budgets appropriate to

you, your home and the me of day or

year. The Chorus provides at-a-glance

informaon on whether you are above

or below your budget so you can keep

track 24/7. Simple graphics show usage,

cost and carbon. You can check just how

environmentally friendly you are being

(the more environmentally friendly, the

greaterthesavings).

With geo’s web pack, you can access all

this data from your Chorus display or

online on our energynote website. Here

you can set up your own personalised

account with more in-depth informaon,

hintsandpsandfurtheranalysis.Youcan

look at your energy use in as much detail

asyouwouldliketosee.

 When ng the sensors, if the

cables coming out of the meter

look perished (cracked, burned, or

bare copper) or are loose, or wet,

or you have any doubts about their

condion,donotinstallthesensor,

contact a qualied electrician.

Don’t force the CT sensor on the

mains cable if the cable diameter

appearstobetoobig.

 Keepthedisplayawayfromwater.

 Cleanwithaso,drycloth.

If any of the components appear

damaged,contactus.

 This is a user installable display.

There is no need for you to connect

ordisconnectanycabling.

If you need to replace the

baeries you must only use

NiMH rechargeable ones. Non-

rechargeable ones must not be

used.

To protect the environment, please

take your baeries to a recycling

centreforsafedisposal.

For use in a dry, indoor environment

only.

Please only use the power supply

provided.

 ThisproductisRoHScomplientand

CEapproved.

Welcome Safety

Chorus PV display4

What’s in the box?

Chorus PV

Microgeneraon meter transmier, LED

sensor ( ) and Velcro ring for the

generaonmeter.

Import meter transmier, LED sensor ( )

andVelcroringfortheelectricitymeter.

ImportmetertransmierandCTcableclip

()fortheelectricitymeter.

3xAAArechargeablebaeries

Power supply

Desk stand

Wallmounngbracketandremovaltool

Chorus PV display 5

Seng up

Open each of the three transmiers by

pressingthebuononthebackandpulling

theoutercoveraway.

Remove the red baery tab. The ashing

redlightwillshowthattheunitisworking.

When you have connected your display

to the internet it will set up the me

and date automacally. If you want

to do this manually it’s in the menu:



Unscrew the baery ap and insert the

baeriessupplied. Replace thecoverand

pluginthepowersupply.Thedisplaytakes

aroundtwominutestostart.Pleasenote:

the baeries are for backup only. If you

need to replace the baeries you must

onlyuseNiMHrechargeableones.

Step 1 - Power up

baeryapscrew

releasebuon

baerytab

ashingredlight

AAArechargeablebaeries

Chorus PV display6

In order to connect your display to the

internet you must pair your Chorus display

to the internet bridge, contained in the

oponalweb pack.

Remove the power supply then select

the correct set of pins for the UK. Insert

and twist clockwise to clip the pins to the

powersupply.

Step 2 - Connect to the internet

Step 3 - Installaon status

Insert the power cable into the internet

bridge and then plug it into the wall but do

not turn it on yet, your Chorus display will

tellyouwhentoturniton. Check the connecvity of the sensors by

selecng: 

Plug the Ethernet cable into the back of your

internet bridge and plug the other end into

yourrouter.

Pair the internet bridge to the Chorus by

selecng 

Taptheinternetbridgeoponandfollow

the instrucons on screen to pair your

Chorustotheinternetbridge.

A green light shows that a sensor is

working; if a red or amber light is showing

pleaseseetheFAQssecon.

Check the status of the internet

bridgebyscrollingdownthepage.

internet bridge

Chorus PV display 7

TheChorusPV usesthreesensorstocollectmicrogeneraondata: (GeneraonLED

sensor), (ImportLEDsensor)and (Import CT sensor)

Make sure you install the correct sensor on the correct meter.Makeanoteofthepulse

output(‘Imp/kWh’)onthefrontofyourmeter.

Generaon meter

Step 4 - Installing meter sensors

A. Installing the generaon LED sensor

• Aach the Velcro around the pulse

output on your generaonmeter.

• Place the LED sensorovertheVelcro.

• Insertthesensorcableintothetransmier.

B. Installing the import LED sensor

• Aach the Velcro around the pulse

output on your electricitymeter.

• PlacetheLEDsensorovertheVelcro.

• Insertthesensorcableintothetransmier.

• Enter the Imp/kWh value from your

meter by selecng:    

      



Press toreturntohomescreen.

• Enter the Imp/kWh value from your

meter by selecng:    

      



Press toreturntohomescreen.

Electricity meter

Chorus PV display8

C. Installing the import CT sensor

• Idenfy the live mains cable going into

your electricity meter (it will be brown,

redorhave‘L’onit).

• Clip on the CT sensor.

• Insert the sensor cable into any of the

threesocketsunderneaththetransmier.

Press toreturntohomescreen.

Step 5 - Telling the Chorus about you

There are a few addional sengs to complete to get your Chorus PV fully up and

running.ThiscanbedoneontheChorus(seebelow)orfromtheenergynote website (see

energynoteonlineservicesecon).

Seng taris

Getthemostaccuratecostinformaonon

the Chorus PV by seng the import and

micro-generaontaris;thisinformaonis

foundonyourulitybill.OntheChorusselect

Press

toreturntothehomescreen.

Seng your feed-in tari (FiT)

Enter your feed-in tari. You can nd this

onarecentulitybill.OntheChorusselect

       

Press  to return to the home screen.

Seng a budget

Tap Cost ( ) and scroll down to edit your

budget.Setthedesiredmonthlybudgetby

using the and buonsonthele.Press

toreturntothehomescreen.

Electricity meter

Chorus PV display 9

Display overview

Setup buon

Date

Time

Live house use

Electricity

dial

Live

generaon

power

Cost

Electricity

Income

Home buon Message buon

Baery

Home

Scroll Up

Scroll Down

Setup buon

Youcansetupfeatures,budgets&taris.

Home buon

This takes you to the home screen of the

featureyouareviewing.

Message buon

This takes you to your inbox, where you

willndmessagesfromyourChorus.

Electricity dail

The blue (outer) dial shows how much

electricity is being generated by your PV

array and the orange (inner) dial shows

the amount of electricity being used in

yourhome.

Generaon threshold indicator

This will informed you when there is

enough spare generaon from the PV

arrayforanappliancetobeturnedon.

Live generaon power

The amount of electricity being generated

byyourPVarray.

Live house use

The amount of electricity being used by

yourhouse.

Cost

This shows the cost of the electricity

imported from the grid compared to

yourbudget.

Electricity

Thisshowshowmuchyouaregenerang

comparedtoconsuming.

Income

This shows how much you are earning

fromyourarray.It’sbrokendownbyfeed-

intari,deemingandsaving.

Chorus PV display10

Using your display

Electricity

The home screen of the electricity app

shows you both how much you are

generang and how much your home is

using.Onthelehandsideofthescreen

is the electricity dial. The blue (outer)

dial shows how much electricity is being

generated by your PV array and the orange

(inner) dial shows the amount of electricity

beingusedinyourhome.

If the orange dial is larger than the blue

dial, your PV array is not generang

enough to cover your home energy use

andyouwillbeimporngelectricityfrom

the grid – and therefore paying more.

You’remostlikelytoseethishappenona

dark winter’s day:

If the blue dial is larger than the orange dial

then you’re generang more electricity

thanyou’reusing–soyouwon’tbepaying

anything for the electricity you’re using.

You’remostlikelytoseethishappeninthe

middle of a bright sunny day:

The live electricity values are measured in

kilowas(kW)andareshowninthecentre

ofthedial.Togivesomeideaofscale,aTV

isroughly0.2kW,akele1kWandapower-

shower6kW.Amobilephonechargeruses

such a small amount that it might not even

uses hardly any electricity (and certainly

doesn’tregisteronthedisplay).

As a guide, appliances that generate

large amounts of heat (dishwasher, oven,

toaster, kele, washing machine, tumble

dryer, power-shower etc.) use more

electricity than those that don’t (mobile

phone charger, TV, radio, games console,

WiFimodemetc.).

Generating

0.000kW

Generating

7.225kW

Generating

4.101kW

Chorus PV display 11

When you are generang more than

you are consuming, you are exporng

electricity back to the grid and the Chorus

will show:

When you are consuming more than you

are generang, you will be imporng

electricity from the grid and the Chorus

will show:

See Making the most of your electricity

formoreinformaononhowtomaximise

eciencyinyourhome.

Income

The income apphomescreen onthe le

shows today’s income for both the Feed-

in-tari(FiT)anddeeming(ifapplicable).

Using

3.415kW

Using

7.225kW To see your income for yesterday, this

week,thismonthorallme,tapthescreen

and navigate down the menus to choose

a period of me. A handy view of the

current calendar month is also shown, on

which the days you have had high income

arehighlightedbyadarkerblue.

Time periods

The Chorus uses rolling me periods

basedonwholedaysasopposed toxed

calendar periods to measure me. This

makes it easier to compare energy use

becausethemeislike-for-likeasopposed

to part-day or part-month comparisons.

Chorus shows:

• Yesterday

• Last7days

• Last31days

• Allme

Chorus PV display12

Calculate your income

Feed-in tari (FiT) / Generaon tari

When you generate your own electricity

your energy supplier will pay you via a

feed-intari(FiT).Theamountissetbythe

Department of Energy and Climate Change

(DECC)andiscurrently16p*perkWh.

Rates change depending on the size of

your system (those few of you with a

system of over 4kWp are paid slightly less)

and the rate of take-up (also called the

regression rate), so for the most up-to-

date informaon check with the DECC at

www.gov.uk/decc or the Energy Saving

Trust www.energysavingtrust.org.uk

Deeming / Export tari

Now your solar panels are up and running

you will, at some stage, generate more

electricity than you need to use. This is

most likely to be when the sun is shining

and you’re out for the day. So as well as

your FiT/generaon tari you can sell

extra units back to your supplier on an

exporttari.

Because it’s not possible for your energy

supplier to measure exactly what you

are exporng, the energy suppliers use

deeming. This is a scheme whereby the

energy supplier assumes that you export

50% of what you generate.So if you are

paid4.5pperkWh,youwouldworkout:

kWh generated x 4.5p x 50%.

Howmuchyouarepaiddependsonwhen

youedyoursolarpanels.

Applied for FiT on or aer August 2012:

4.5p(£0.045)*perunitx50%

Applied for FiT before August 2012:

3.2p(£0.032)*perunitx50%

*Allrates/tarisasatMarch2013

You can enter these amounts onto the

Chorus here:



If you’ve owned a PV array for longer than

your Chorus, you probably have an idea of

theincomesofar.Youcanaddthisvalueto

the data in your Chorus here:



This value will be added to the all me

incomevalueintheincomeapp.

PV array size

YouneedtotelltheChorushowbigyour

PV array system is so that it knows the

right number of segments to use on the

energydial(blue).

You can tell the Chorus about the size of

your system here:



Usethe–and+buonstoadjustthearray

size(from1to15).Ifyouaren’tsurewhat

sizeyoursystemis,contactyourinstaller.

Calculate your savings

Using the electricity you generate as

opposed to electricity bought from the

gridsavesyoumoney,obviously.Buthow

much?Andwhen?Weshowyoujusthow

much you’re saving on the income app;

Scrolldownunderneaththecalendar.

Chorus PV display 13

The amount of money saved depends on

your tari. For example, if you use 4kWh

of generated electricity and you pay 16p/

kWh for your electricity from the grid then

it would work as follows:

kWh of generated electricity used x cost

of grid electricity = 4 x 16 = 64p

It’s simple: the more you use your own

generated electricity, the less you’ll import

fromthegridandthemoreyou’llsave.If

you navigate further down into the income

appyoucanviewsavingsbymeperiod.

Cost

Any electricity you import from the grid

you will be charged for. By using the

electricity you generate as eciently as

possible, you can aim to keep any import

downtoaminimum.

To help keep any eye on your costs

the Chorus gives you a way to set an

appropriate monthly budget. This budget

is updated during the day to show you

£0.15

Under budget today

yourprogress(goodandbad!).

Seng a budget

Tap the cost app screen and scroll down to

Edit budgetinthemenu.Tosetamonthly

budget that is appropriate for you, take a

look at a few recent electricity bills to get

anideaofyourtypicalmonthlycost.

Forexample,ifyouused£120overthelast

3 months, divide the total by 3 and set a

budgetof£40permonth.

The home screen of the cost app shows

whether you are currently below (ck

icon) or above (cross icon) your budget at

anymeoftheday.TheChoruslearnsyour

energyusepaernasyouuseit,soaer

a few weeks it will give you an accurate,

personalised indicator of how well you are

Chorus PV display14

doingonanyparcularday.

Theswingometerprovidesanindicaonof Environment

Using the electricity you generate doesn’t

just save you money, but also helps the

environment. That’s mainly because the

energy you generate at home is carbon

neutral (i.e. no power staon). The

environment app shows what percentage

of the electricity you generate you have

used in your own home at that point in the

dayandhowmuchcarbonyouhavesaved.

The higher the percentage, the more of

your own electricity you’ve used and the

kinderyouarebeingtotheenvironment.

Higher percentages mean healthier

lookingtreesonthescreen.

Tip: Try to get the tree to bear fruit as

oen as possible, that way you’ll know

you’remakingadierence.

howmuchaboveorbelowbudgetyouare.

Tip: If you’re always under budget, why not

reduce it to make it more of a challenge?

Making savings

Tapping the costapp will show the mes

during the day you are using the most

energy–inotherwords,whenit’scosng

youthemost.Ifpossible,trytouseenergy-

heavy appliances (like your dishwasher or

washing machine) either during the middle

of the day (in sunlight), or at night (if you

haveacheapernight-metari).

Chorus PV display 15

Tap the environment app to read

more informaon about your day’s

environmental impact. If you scroll down

the menu on the right you’ll see the all

mecarboncounterswiththeamountof

carbonyou’vesavedorgeneratedinkg.

Chorus PV display16

To save the most money on your bills and

have the least impact on the environment,

you should aim to use as much of your own

generatedelectricityaspossible.

Generaon vs. Imporng

Of course your PV array will generate the

most amount of electricity during bright

sunny days, so that’s when you’ll have

the most to use. But even on cloudy days

your PV array is generang electricity for

you. As with sunny days, the best mes

are in the middle of the day when the light

isstrongest.

Toseethebalanceofyourgeneraonagainst

use over the day, enter the electricity app by

tappingthescreen.

Making the most of your electricity

However, if you tap the excess

generaon buon, it will highlight the

9.683

kWh used today

This graph shows generated electricity

along the top and imported electricity along

theboom.

To see the biggest reducon in your bills,

youshouldaimtohaveaslile as possible

in the boom part of the graph (as this

is the electricity you’re imporng from

thegrid).

We understand that it’s not always possible

to avoid imporng electricity from the

grid, especially as during the night your PV

arraywon’tbegenerangatall.Thismakes

runninglighngandheangdicultwithout

imporngfromthegrid.

You can see this in the centre of the

electricity dial when you’re generang

signicantly more electricity than your

houseisusingatthatme.Wheneveryou

see this symbol you should think about

turningonanenergy-heavyappliance.

Thedefaultgeneraonthresholdissetto

show when you are generang 0.750kW

more than you are using. This is enough

tocoverasignicantamountofelectricity

used by one energy-heavy appliance. For

example, it will cover most of the cost of

runningonecycleofawashingmachine.

excess generated electricity in blue that

you didn’t use. It’s then possible to

reschedule energy-hungry tasks from the

night to the day. Using appliances like

dishwashers, tumble dryers and washing

machines in the middle of the day will

make sure they use generated electricity

ratherthanimportedgridelectricity.Some

appliances, like dishwashers, now have

merdelayfeatures,soyoucouldsetthem

torunwhenit’smostecienttodoso.

To help determine when it’s best to turn

on energy-heavy appliances, the Chorus

hasageneraonthresholdindicator.

generaonbuon

Chorus PV display 17

If that threshold is too high or low for you,

you can change the generaon threshold

to something more suitable here:



The larger the value, the more appliances

you’ll be able to run using your generated

electricity,butthelessoenyou’llseethe

generaonthresholdindicator.

Top ps

• Useenergy-heavyappliances(washing

machines,dishwashersetc.)duringthe

middleoftheday.

• Use the generaon threshold to

determine the best mes to use your

generatedelectricity.

• Look at today and yesterday’s

electricity use graphs in the electricity

apptomeasurehoweecvelyyou’re

usingyourgeneratedelectricity.

• Reduce your electricity consumpon

at night by changing to low energy

lightbulbs and turning o any

appliances that aren’t in use (or could

berunduringtheday).

Chorus PV display18

www.energynote.co.uk

If you don’t already have one, a geo

web pack is available which allows you

to access all your energy data from

your Chorus display online through

www.energynote.co.uk

Energynote online service

With energynote you can:

• Set up a personalised account with

securelogin.

• View all your energy data in detail,

rightbacktothedateyourstinstalled

yourChorus.

• Compare dierent energy data sets

side-by-side.

• Use energynote’s built-in analysis to

learnmoreaboutyourenergyhabits.

• Seehistorictemperaturedata.

• Spottrendsandpaerns.

• Learn more about energy saving and

theenvironment.

• Export your data as a data le (.csv)

forfurtheranalysis.

• Energynote is also available to view

on a mobile device, so you can look at

your energy use in as much detail as

you would like to see from wherever

youhaveaconnecon.

Chorus PV display 19

Temperature sensors

(available separately)

The Chorus can be used with wireless

temperature sensors to measure room

temperatures, hot water or even outdoor

temperatures. You can measure room

temperaturestocomparetheeciencyof

your heang by comparing results, or to

check that your home is running as warm

orascoolasyouwouldlike.

Oponal extras

To pair a temperature sensor to the Chorus:

1. Squeezethetwoclipsoneachsideand

slidethecovero.

2. Remove the baery tab from the

temperaturesensor.

Select: 

  and choose the desired

temperaturesensor.

Followtheon-screeninstrucons.

Note: the temperature sensor will

automacally leave pairing mode aer

30 seconds. If you have trouble pairing

the sensor, make sure that you start the

pairing process on the Chorus shortly

aer pressing the pairing buon on the

temperaturesensor.

The temperature values are show in the

environmentscreen.

baerytab

3. Press the pairing buon on the

temperature sensor.

pairingbuon

Chorus PV display20

Pairing

TheChoruscomespre-pairedtoeachofthe

threemetersensors.Ifyouneedtoreplace

a sensor, you need to unpair the exisng

sensor by selecng    

 and choosing the

sensorthatyouwanttoun-pair.Followthe

on-screeninstrucons.

To pair a new sensor:

1. Openthenewtransmierbypressing

thebuononthebackandpullingthe

outercoveraway.

releasebuon

baerytab

2. Remove the red baery tab; the red

lightwillashtoshowthatit’sworking.

3. Select      

  and choose the sensor

that you want to pair. Follow the on-

screeninstrucons.

Note: the sensor will automacally leave

pairingmodeaer30seconds.Ifyouhave

trouble pairing the sensor, make sure that

you start the pairing process on the Chorus

shortlyaerpressingthepairingbuonon

thesensor.

If you need to replace the bridge and

re-pair another one, unpair the bridge

by selecng    » 

Geo Chorus PV display User manual

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