It may seem odd that Maslow is charging from the mains during the day however this is perfectly correct operation for systems installed in houses with mains-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) panels.
One of the advantages of Maslow is that it can be installed alongside a new or existing installation of solar PV panels without requiring the solar PV inverter to be changed. Maslow is connected to the domestic mains wiring system and only charges the battery when there is surplus energy available from the PV panels - energy that would otherwise flow from the house to the Grid because there is insufficient consumption in the house to use it all. The energy is in effect diverted from the Grid to Maslow's battery, to be stored for later consumption within the house. So, even though Maslow is charging from the mains it is only using energy exported from the PV inverter and not imported from the Grid.
This does not affect FIT payments as the energy has already flowed through the generation meter before it reaches Maslow's battery. Nor does this affect export payments as (currently) these are paid based on the generation meter readings.
Last updated: 29 April 2015