Installing solar panels on your home or business is common in many European countries. But they really come into their own during energy crises.
“If you’ve got a solar roof on your home and you’ve got a battery then, depending on how much energy you can generate, you are substantially insulated from importing electricity,” explains Matthew Clayton, CEO of UK-based Thrive Renewables.
Dynamic tariffs are becoming more common in Europe. This is where the price of electricity varies throughout the day and night, with costs going up during peak periods, like dinner time, when households are using more.
This means that if you store up solar power during daylight hours, when the sun is at its strongest, then you can use that energy, rather than drawing it from the electricity grid, during the most expensive periods. “Your relationship with the grid is totally changed,” says Clayton.
I’m not sure how that is a disadvantage compared to being on the power grid? If you are on the power grid, and the grid goes down, you also don’t have power.
What is this a disadvantage compared to?
My point is that with this basic setup (I run 2 kWp) is that you still lose power when the grid goes down, so your relationship to the grid is not totally changed. The only thing you notice are smaller power bills.
The disadvantage is compared to a insular/black start capable setup which is more expensive/complicated (and needs a licensed electrician to be legal) but lets you run on battery when the grid goes down.
It is valid that a grid failure proof system is a bigger change to relationship with the grid.
But as someone with a 10x cost difference between on-peak and off-peak pricing, stored power certainly changes how I interact with the grid. My time of use use, and therefore my family’s own habits, are drastically changed. Not doing laundry 16h00-21h00 with a toddler was a rough go. So yes, my relationship with the grid has totally changed; in ways more than jsut my bill.
Sure, if you happen to have dynamic electricity tariffs, you’re going to change your consumption pattern.