Glossary
Bidirectional meter
A bidirectional meter is the meter your utility installs or reprograms after approving the solar interconnection. It records separately the kWh flowing into your home from the grid and the kWh your panels send out, and that difference is used to calculate your net metering credit.
What a bidirectional meter is
A conventional meter counts in one direction only: what you consume. With solar panels, for part of the day your home sends energy back to the grid, and the meter has to record that too. The bidirectional meter keeps two readings: kWh received and kWh delivered. The utility subtracts one from the other and bills the net under net metering.
In most Florida cases there is nothing to pay for the swap: the utility does it as part of interconnection, right before or when it issues PTO.
Why it matters in Florida
Many FPL, Duke and TECO homes already have smart meters capable of recording both directions; the utility just reprograms them. Elsewhere, mostly with municipals and cooperatives, the meter is physically replaced. Either way, until the meter is configured, the energy you export earns no credit.
Once active, the bill changes format: you will see lines for energy received, energy delivered and accumulated credit. Learning to read those lines is the only way to verify the system is producing what was promised.
Common mistake
Thinking the meter “spins backward” and therefore the bill can hit zero or go negative every month. The meter nets out kWh, but the minimum charge is billed separately and cannot be offset with energy. The bill can come in negative once a year, at settlement, not every month. We walk through a real bill in net metering in Florida.
Updated