4 ideas for an efficient use of your solar energy
Once you have invested in PV installations, you might be wondering how to use your solar energy most efficiently. We have collected four ideas to help you get the most out of it.
These days, PV technologies have become efficient enough to enable solar cells to convert at least 30 % of the sunlight they receive into electricity. Thus more and more homeowners decide to invest in solar cells for their rooftop to allow them to get off the power grid or to sell electricity back to it. Once the investment is done and the installation completed, how can you make sure you are using solar energy as efficiently as possible – and how can you save even more costs? We have gathered a few suggestions for you.
1. Reduce all-over electricity consumption
The most obvious approach to an efficent use of solar energy is to reduce it altogether. This is often easier said than done. The first step is to completety switch off all devices that are not in use. Televisions, computers and game consoles, to name just a few, tend to automatically go into stand-by mode. While this uses little energy only, condersing the amount of devices it can add up. Hence make sure to fully switch them off.
2. Use your appliances wisely
Many of your essential devices, such as your dishwasher or stove, are also those with the highest energy usage. Try to use these during daytime only, when your solar cells are producing the required electricity. Should this be impossible, invest in large solar batteries that help you store the solar energy. If you are unsure how to identify these high-consumption appliances, ask a technician to come to your house and help you.
3. Use your solar energy, do more things electrically
Consider furnishing your building with electric water heaters to ensure that, especially in sunny seasons, you can benefit from your solar energy by gaining hot water from it. What is more, if you have solar batteries that are large enough you can use infrared radiators to heat your home. Another idea is investing in e-mobility of any kind, like electric cars or electric lawn-mowers. The charging points for these can be connected to solar panels.
4. Purchase or replace equipment
In order to ensure an efficient use of your solar energy resources, make sure your electronic devices allow you to do so. Dispose of gadgets that have a high power consumption, such as electric water kettles. Also, it is wise to acquire the aforementioned large storage units to literally save energy for a rainy day. If you are still using light bulbs you might want to consider exchanging them for LEDs, as these require only about a tenth of the energy to produce the same amount of light.
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