Generating Power With Solar Energy: Everything You Need to Know
Solar energy is becoming increasingly popular as a sustainable energy source, and generating electricity using solar panels is a common method. Solar panels consist of solar cells that capture sunlight and convert it into direct current. Because the generated direct current cannot be used directly in your home, an inverter is always needed. This inverter converts the direct current into alternating current, the form of electricity that you use every day.
In recent years, the cost of solar panels has fallen, making it increasingly attractive to invest in this technology. For a set of 10 solar panels, you currently pay an average of €5,000 (excluding VAT), making the investment in sustainable energy increasingly affordable. Want to know more about solar panels? Check out our extensive solar panel magazine for more information and tips.
Storing Energy at Home: How It Works
Solar panels often generate more power than you need at a given time, especially on sunny days. The excess power can be fed back into the energy grid, so that other households can use it. Another option is to store this power in a home battery. Such a battery stores the generated energy when you produce more than you use, for example on sunny days or when your appliances need less energy.
With a home battery, you can use the stored power at times when your solar panels generate little or no energy, for example during the winter months or on cloudy days. Using a home battery in combination with solar panels makes you less dependent on the energy grid, which contributes to more sustainable and cheaper energy consumption.
Cost of Storing Energy
Buying a home battery is an investment. Home batteries come in different sizes, depending on the amount of energy you want to store. There are batteries that can store as little as 3 kWh, but also larger models with storage capacity of up to 20 kWh. In some cases, you can connect multiple batteries together to create a larger storage capacity, which is called a modular system.
According to Milieu Centraal, the average cost of storage capacity is between €650 and €1,000 per kWh. A 6 kWh home battery will therefore cost between €4,000 and €5,000. These prices have fallen in recent years as technology becomes more efficient, making the investment increasingly attractive.
Why Should You Store Energy?
Storing energy offers several advantages, both financial and practical:
- More self-use of generated electricity : By storing your own solar power, you can use it later and you need to buy less power from the energy grid.
- Lower energy costs : You save on your energy bill because you are less dependent on the grid.
- Reduced load on the energy grid : By using more of your self-generated electricity, you contribute to a reduced load on the national energy grid.
- Better energy security : You have access to electricity almost always, even when the energy grid is under pressure or when there are outages.
- Ready for the future : You are prepared for changes in legislation and solar energy regulations, such as the phasing out of the net metering scheme.
When to Choose Energy Storage?
Many households choose to return the power they do not need directly to the grid, taking advantage of the netting scheme. This scheme makes it possible to offset the returned power with the power you take from the grid. However, energy storage is becoming increasingly popular, especially because more and more energy suppliers charge feed-in costs for the power you supply to the grid.
By choosing energy storage, you can make better use of the generated power, because you use more power yourself and are therefore less dependent on the energy grid. New technologies are also making energy storage increasingly affordable, making it increasingly interesting to invest in a home battery.
Personal Energy Advice
Are you unsure whether a home battery is suitable for your situation? It can be difficult to determine what the best option is. That is why we offer personal advice. Our expert energy advisors can talk to you and together discuss the possibilities and benefits of energy storage in your situation. After the conversation, you will receive tailor-made advice, so that you can make well-considered choices for your energy consumption.
A smart combination of solar panels and a home battery allows you to optimize your energy consumption and contribute to a more sustainable future.
