How Is Solar Electricity Used In My Home?

As you use appliances in your home you create an electrical demand. The more appliances you use at one time increases this demand.

Solar panels will generate a varying amount of power output depending on the irradiance (intensity of the suns radiation). This can be affected by the time of day, how cloudy the sky is and the angle of the solar panels to the sun.

Houses with solar will be fitted with a bidirectional retail meter. This meter will detect electricity flowing both ways.

First, solar power will service the electricity demand in the home. If there is more solar generation than electricity demand, then the remainder will go across the bidirectional meter and out to the grid.

If the electricity demand is greater than solar power, solar will be used by the demand, then the extra power needed will be drawn from the grid across the bidirectional meter to service the demand.

Some solar systems have batteries as part of the system. Battery systems reduce the amount of energy sent and received from the grid. They store excess solar energy and discharge power to meet demand when solar generation isn’t enough.