Independent with solar energy and storage

Photovoltaics pays off

The May family has had a photovoltaic system on the roof of their house in southern Australia for several years. When the sun is shining during the day, they can run their household appliances such as the washing machine and television with the electricity they have produced themselves. With their battery they can store excess energy for use in the night.

The May family’s PV system is quickly paying for itself, as they consume the majority of its solar energy themselves

So that the investment costs of their photovoltaic system pay off quickly, the May family use as much of their solar energy as possible themselves. Experts call this maximising one’s self-consumption. The May family does this quite cleverly by switching on appliances that need a lot of power when the sun is providing the most energy.

This Australian family’s biggest electrical loads are the air conditioning and the pool pump. They have now set these to run when the roof is producing the most energy. In other households this might be a dishwasher or heat pump.

» My PV system gives me independence. «

The May family knows how to best use their solar energy

People are usually unaware of when energy consumption peaks in their homes. But you can easily find this out by looking at your consumption profile in Solar.web. This is exactly what the May family did and they discovered that they can sync the running time of their pool pump and air conditioning system with the yield of the PV system.

By doing so, they are able to use as much as possible of their solar energy themselves and do not need to buy much energy from the grid.

The May family stores their PV electricity and is even more independent

Three years after their PV system was installed, the May family decided to expand it. The great thing about photovoltaic systems with Fronius inverters is that components can be added later. For the May family this meant installing a battery. This enables them to store the solar energy they do not need during the day.

In the evening and at night, the electricity used in the home also comes from the sun, thanks to the storage system. This means that the May family hardly needs to buy any electricity from the grid and they can maximise their self-consumption.

The May family even has power during an outage

When it comes to power outages, the May family are covered – the combination of a Fronius inverter and BYD battery storage system enables them to draw power from the PV system in the event of a power outage. And that is not just for small devices, such as charging a smartphone, but also for three-phase loads such as an electric cooker.

The May family is reducing their carbon footprint

Eddy May believes he is setting a good example for his children with their photovoltaic system.

“Not only does my photovoltaic system make me independent, it teaches my children about electricity production, grid consumption and self-sufficiency and how these work together to help to protect the environment”.

The family’s photovoltaic system produces so much electricity that 6 metric tonnes of CO₂ are saved annually. This is equivalent to driving more than 29,000 kilometres in a car.

Info box:

7.0 kWp photovoltaic system with Fronius Symo Hybrid inverter and BYD storage

Thanks to Solar.web, the family now knows when they need the most electricity. Armed with this knowledge they were able to change their behaviour and use some household appliances at different times.

Appliances that require a lot of electricity are left running during the day so that they can be operated with PV energy.

They store solar energy that they do not immediately need during the day in a battery so they can use it at night.

The May family can use 70 % of the energy generated by their PV system themselves.

The current page does not exist in the target language.

Solar Energy

Independent with solar energy and storage

The May family’s PV system is quickly paying for itself, as they consume the majority of its solar energy themselves

The May family knows how to best use their solar energy

The May family stores their PV electricity and is even more independent

The May family even has power during an outage

The May family is reducing their carbon footprint

Info box:

Find an installer in your area!

More stories and reports:

Experience report // PV with storage and backup power

Energy storage // Test winner: GEN24 and BYD

Save money with PV // Intelligent energy management

Solution // Energy storage