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A rising notion within the realms of solar energy and home storage is self-consumption – the practice of generating and utilizing electricity on-site at your residence or commercial establishment. With evolving net metering regulations on the horizon, adopting a self-consumption system could prove pivotal in optimizing your solar investment returns.
By John Rachbach | 21.07.2023 | 11:23 AM (CET)
If you've got solar panels installed, there are several ways to make the most of the electricity they generate. Firstly, you can use the power straight from your panels in real-time to run your appliances. Secondly, with net metering, you can bank solar credits by feeding excess electricity into the grid and using them later. Alternatively, if you have a home battery, you can store surplus energy on-site instead of sending it to the grid. This allows you to tap into your battery's reserves when needed, rather than relying solely on the grid.
It's important to note that when you're earning credits through net metering, you're not directly using the electricity produced by your solar panels. On the other hand, self-consumption (or self-supply) involves generating electricity and immediately putting it to use within your home. This can occur either by using the power directly from the solar panels to run appliances or by storing it in a home battery for later use.
Traditionally, the majority of residential solar power setups have been linked to the grid and operated under a net metering arrangement. Under most utility companies' one-to-one net metering programs, homeowners receive full credit for the electricity they contribute to the grid. But what exactly does a one-to-one net metering system involve?
Imagine you've installed a solar panel system with net metering. When your panels generate more electricity than you're using, the surplus is sent back to the grid, causing your electric meter to run backward. Conversely, when you require more electricity than your panels produce, such as during nighttime or on overcast days, you draw power from the grid, causing your meter to run forward. At the end of each billing cycle, you're charged or credited based on the net balance of energy exchanged with the grid, hence the term 'net metering'.
A properly sized solar system can potentially generate enough electricity to cover your home's energy needs for the entire year. However, solar output varies seasonally, with more production in sunnier months and less during darker, colder seasons. Net metering is invaluable in addressing these fluctuations by crediting you for surplus electricity produced, allowing you to offset consumption during times of lower solar output.
How does self-consumption address shifts in net metering policies? Consider the electricity needed to run your refrigerator for a day – roughly 150 watt-hours. If you produce this power with solar panels and directly use it for your refrigerator, you pay nothing to your utility provider. However, if you send this electricity to the grid and then draw it back later, you may not receive full credit under certain net metering rates. For instance, if you only get 80% of the value, you'll be credited for 120 watt-hours but need to pay for the remaining 30 watt-hours. This results in paying for electricity that could have been used for free. This highlights the importance of self-consumption: utilizing the power you generate without losing its value.
High self-consumption, coupled with solar and storage, could enable a small home to operate off-grid. Without self-consumption, however, challenges arise. Off-grid setups prevent sending excess power to the grid for credits and prohibit accessing grid electricity when solar generation is insufficient.
While self-consumption isn't necessary for everyone with solar panels on their property, it's key to maximizing your savings without one-to-one net metering, which exists (or will exist in the future) in many places. There are three major ways to increase your self-consumption: altering your electricity consumption habits, installing a home battery, and upgrading your electrical panel to a smart panel.
An approach to gauge your self-consumption is by examining your solar self-consumption ratio. This metric represents the proportion of your solar energy production that is consumed on-site. It's important to note that a self-consumption ratio of 100 percent doesn't necessarily imply that all your electricity needs are met internally. Rather, it indicates that all the solar-generated electricity is utilized on-site. For instance, if your solar panels are designed to produce only 80 percent of your total electricity consumption, you can still achieve a 100 percent self-consumption ratio. However, you'll still need to draw some energy from the grid to cover the remaining usage.
Enhancing your self-consumption levels can be achieved by modifying your daily routines. For instance, since solar panels generate electricity predominantly during daylight hours, scheduling tasks like running the dishwasher and laundry midday allows you to utilize more solar power directly. Conversely, minimizing appliance and lighting usage at night, when solar production is low, helps reduce reliance on grid-supplied electricity.
A pivotal method to enhance your solar self-consumption is by integrating a home battery with your solar panel setup. This enables surplus solar energy generated during the day to be stored for later use. Essentially, the home battery serves as an onsite energy bank, ensuring that excess solar electricity retains its value, especially in the absence of one-to-one net metering. The growing significance of self-supply makes investing in a battery system increasingly worthwhile.
Looking to further optimize your energy setup? Pairing a home battery with a smart electrical panel, such as the Span Smart Panel or the Schneider Square D Energy Center, offers advanced functionality. These smart devices integrate energy storage benefits with automated energy usage adjustments, facilitating increased reliance on self-consumption through battery utilization. With features like timed appliance scheduling and automatic energy conservation during periods of low solar output, a smart panel streamlines your energy management for greater efficiency.
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