Most people turn to solar systems because they want to cut down on their electricity costs. But then they become disappointed when they receive the bill only to find out that it is still relatively high.
Firstly, you need to understand how solar power works.
The solar cells generate electricity when the sun is out, which is then used by the household or property.
When a grid connect system produces more power than is being consumed, the surplus is sent into the power grid. Some electricity retailers will give you a credit on your bill for exporting power to the grid, with the price determined by the feed-in tariff.
When the solar cells are not generating power, for example at night, your electricity is supplied by the power grid. And so, the electricity company charges the usual rate for the power used.
Therefore, if you want to reduce your electricity bill, you have to ensure that you maximise your solar power usage. One of the ways to do so is by getting a consumption monitoring system.
Here are three benefits of using consumption monitoring systems.
It lets you know all the important numbers
A good consumption monitoring system is able to show not only live solar generation figures, but also how much power is being consumed in the house. At the same time, it measures how much excess power is feeding out to the grid, and how much is drawn in from the grid.
This data will be sent to the Internet and you can access all the information, graphs and numbers through websites or apps.
It helps you improve energy efficiency
The insights gained from the monitoring can help you understand how much power your household appliances consume. With this knowledge, you can try and use certain appliances during the day, like the hot water and dishwasher, so that they use solar instead of grid power.
Through consumption monitoring, you can also identify appliances that consume power even when you are not using them, and take the necessary steps to cut down power usage.
It lets you know if something’s wrong
If your solar system is not functioning as it should, you would want to know about it as soon as possible. Why? Because when a solar system stops working, the grid steps in and provides the power instead, and you will not realise this until you get the unexpectedly high electricity bill.
With a good monitoring system, you will be alerted whenever there is an error or if your solar system shuts down, so you can quickly have it fixed.
At Total Solar Solutions, we offer a few consumption monitoring systems: the Enphase Envoy, the Fronius Smart, and the SolarEdge Modbus. All three systems allow you to monitor the production and usage of your solar power wherever you are via desktop or smartphone, as long as you have WiFi connection.
Find out more about these consumption monitoring systems, call us at 03 9729 0894, or email [email protected].