How to Make the Most of your Solar Panel System

Whilst some households have already invested in solar batteries, many are waiting until the price falls further. Thus this article on making the most of your solar panel system is written for those households who have a solar panel system installed on their roof, but do not as of yet have the ability to store solar energy through solar batteries.

Use of High Energy Consumption Appliances

In making the most of your solar panel system, the most obvious way is to use your high energy consumption appliances during the day when your solar panels are providing the most energy. Obviously this is more difficult if everyone in the family is out at work or school during the day. However, even in this instance, it is still possible to plan to make the most of your solar panel system.

Firstly, we need to identify which of your appliances uses the most energy and are not used on a continuous basis, like your fridge or freezer. If you have an electric pool pump, this is going to chew a lot of power. It should be noted here that newer electrical motors and appliances usually use a lot less energy than older ones. Thus a fridge or freezer from the 70’s or even the 90’s will consume a lot more energy than a recently purchased one. When you do purchase new appliances, please check the energy rating and use this information as well as price and fashion to determine which one you purchase.

High energy consumption appliances in a home include pool pumps, also clothes dryers, washing machines and dishwashers.

The idea is to use these appliances during the day (and on sunny days) when your solar system is providing energy to your home. It is also (depending on the size of your solar system) a good idea not to use two or more of these appliances at the same time. If you consider that your home is always consuming a base level of energy by those electrical items that run continuously, then it may be that if you add two or more high energy using appliances at the same time, that you could be consuming more energy than what your solar system is generating.

Stagger the Use of High Energy Consumption Appliances

So how can this be achieved? If someone from your family is home all day, it is easy just to stagger when you use each appliance. When the dishwasher is finished, put on the washing machine and then use the clothes dryer and then the pool pump. Although on a sunny day, it is a good idea to hang out your washing to dry in the sun which also has the benefit of the ultraviolet rays disinfecting your laundry.

If no-one is home during the day, then if you have timers on your electrical goods, this is an easy way to stagger the use of these electrical machines. Obviously if a sunny day changes to a rainy day, you won’t in this case be making the most of your solar system.

Doing Your Laundry

If possible, do your laundry on the weekend so that you can hang it out in the sun rather than using the clothes dryer. If this is not possible, it becomes tricky because you are not home to move the clothes from your washing machine to your dryer. If you are ready to replace your washing machine and dryer, you could consider purchasing a washer/dryer combination unit which means that you will be making the most of your solar system by being able to have your clothes dried when you are not home.

East and West Installed Solar Systems

The above has been based upon the assumption that you have solar panels installed on either the northern side of your roof or both the eastern and western sides. However, if you have solar panels on just the east side of your home, then you need to use high energy consuming appliances and machines in the morning when your solar panels are generating electricity. It follows then if your solar panels are on the western side of your roof, to use these appliances in the afternoon. Also make sure that you check when your solar panels are in fact generating electricity because it will most likely be different in summer than it is in winter.

Correct Installation of your Solar System

I have listed here at the bottom the most important point in ensuring that you get the best from a solar panel system as there are many articles on the net and in fact, on this website about this. The most important factor to ensure that you get the most from your solar system is that they are installed at the optimum position on your roof.

More often than not, this is on the northern side of the roof of your home. However, the east and west sides are also considered good alternatives. Never install solar panels on the southern side of a sloping roof as you will waste your money.

It is extremely important when choosing where to install your solar system that the roof area is not shaded by other houses or trees.

Solar panels should be installed on a right angle slope to obtain the most of the sun rays.

Globe Solar Electricians

The electricians at Globe Electrical Solutions are also accredited solar installers and will make sure that the size and location of your solar system provides the maximum energy savings for your home.