If you have the money, you should immediately purchase solar panels. You earn back the investment. This is what Isabelle van der Ende of Milieu Centraal, an independent environmental institute, says. However, she does issue a profit warning: because everyone uses and generates electricity at the same time, the power grid occasionally cannot cope and your system switches itself off.
Solar panels have been popular to buy for years. Especially with the netting scheme (see box), they can be recouped in a number of years. The government wanted to stop the scheme, but the Senate recently put a stop to that.
“The payback period is currently approximately five years. But even without the scheme, the payback period is still manageable. Then it is approximately eight years and the panels will last up to 25 years,” says Van der Ende.
Power grid is full
The uncertain factor in the payback period is because the power grid is quite full. Because we use more and more electricity and generate much more with solar panels, for example, there are times when the power grid cannot handle the voltage.
Then the solar panel systems you have at home switch off to prevent real misery. “Especially in Flevoland, the grid is becoming quite full. How often home systems will switch themselves off and where that will be remains unclear. It varies per neighborhood, even per street,” says Van der Ende.
When your system is switched off, you will not have any power from it. At the moment these are only short interruptions, but they may last longer in the future. The power grid operator is busy strengthening the grid throughout the country.
Liander received around 2,000 reports in 2022 that inverters had stopped working. Last year there were already around 6,000, a huge increase. It is not known how many of these reports come from Flevoland.
System turns itself off for short moments
Netting
With panels you generate electricity that you use yourself. You sell everything you have left to the net, but you actually lend it out, because you get it back when you do need it.
The electricity you generate when there is a lot of sun, such as in the summer, is much cheaper to purchase than the electricity you get back in the winter, for example. Then there is less sun.
The energy companies pay this difference in price, which they then pass on to customers. To everyone, including people without panels. The netting scheme was due to stop, partly due to this inequality, but the government decided at the last minute to continue.
Return costs
Because netting is an expensive arrangement for energy companies, some already charge feed-in costs. You then pay an amount for electricity that you send to the grid. “But even then, solar panels are still affordable. You will earn them back in approximately 7 years,” says Van der Ende.
She then assumes that you do not have much excess capacity. “You have to look at your own use and adjust the number of solar panels accordingly,” Van der Ende adds.
Tips
Before installing (additional) solar panels, it is advisable to check with Liander whether your neighborhood is affected by tension problems.
What also helps is if you use the generated energy directly: for example, by turning on your large appliances during the day, such as the washing machine, dryer or dishwasher. This reduces the pressure on the power grid. You can also opt for so-called smart devices. These turn on when the solar panels generate a lot of electricity. How the panels are positioned on your roof is also important.
Solar panels yield the most if they face south. With the current traffic on the net, that may not be the best choice. “If you place them to the east and west, you generate a lot of electricity in the morning and afternoon. The yield is not much less than the panels that face south. Because you then mainly supply at different times than the masses. you are less likely to overload the grid and therefore have your system shut down,” Van der Ende concludes.
2024-03-11 23:53:47
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