2023-09-14 09:40:55
Some readers blame me for putting far more solar panels on my roof than I need for my own use. This overloads the grid in my area and contributes to the high netting and feed-in costs. Personally, I think I should install even more panels.
Last April, the number of solar panels on my roof went from 12 to 34. The amount of power they supply grew even more in percentage terms, from roughly 2,500 kWh per year to 10,500 kWh. And while I use less than 4000 kWh per year. I have mentioned those figures a few times over the past year and a half and soon there were reactions along the lines of ‘you should consume much less electricity’, or ‘you should not generate more than you need per year’.
No more gas and petrol
Those reactions are twice wrong, I dare say. Point one: the average electricity consumption of a household in the Netherlands is approximately 3300 kWh per year. I was initially well below that with my 2600 kWh. But then the heat pump for my living room was added and my consumption increased to approximately 3800 kWh. At the same time, my gas consumption dropped from 1600 cubic meters to 900 cubic meters. I personally think that is a very good exchange.
Because I also want to install a heat pump for the rest of the house, and then completely stop using gas, I think there will be an additional 2000 kWh of electricity consumption. If I also get an electric car in front of my door, I think I will put 1000 kWh in that car battery. By that time I will have consumed almost 7000 kWh of electricity and I consider every kWh of that to be very responsible.
Warm room with its own electricity
I then still have regarding 3500 kWh per year to return net. In my opinion, that is not 3,500 too many, but perhaps 10,000 too few. Because what is the case? Thanks to those extra solar panels, I was able to almost cover the power needs of my heat pump on average last December and January and thus heat my living room with my own electricity. Even in the coldest and darkest months I hardly had to ask for electricity from the grid. But of course I want to cover my entire power need during those months.
What applies on a small scale in my home applies on a large scale to the entire country and even the entire world. If we want to have enough solar power in times of little sun, we will have to install many solar panels. Then we will certainly have a lot of solar power left over on sunny days in spring and summer. We have to think of smart things for this, such as storing heat in the ground, pumping reservoirs full and making hydrogen.
Ten times more
And let there be no misunderstanding: we really need those ‘way too many’ solar panels to make our energy completely CO2 by 2050.2-to be released. After Australia, the Netherlands is the country with the most solar power per capita. That is beautiful. But it is still far from enough. Research agency TNO has already calculated that we will have to generate ten times as much solar power.
We don’t have ten times as many roofs that might accommodate all those panels, but that’s not necessary. Because the panels are becoming more and more powerful, and if we replace the 25-year-old panels around 2045, the new ones will soon provide twice as much power each. Moreover, they will also float in the North Sea, for example. And in my home, I hope, panels will hang once morest the facade for many years, invisible, because with the structure of yellow brick or stained wood. In short: as far as I’m concerned, today’s ‘far too much’ is actually ‘not nearly enough’.
Vincent Dekker writes regarding innovations and developments in the field of green energy, near and far from home. More episodes ontrouw.nl/vincentwilzon. Vincent now also has a podcast, including regarding heat pumps – listen to it via this link or search for it through the known channels.
Also read:
The greenest solar panels grow in the dunes near Petten
Solar panels provide green energy. But are they green themselves? In broad terms, certainly. But according to TNO (research center for the energy transition) in Petten, things can be even better. Literally and figuratively.
1694703111
#Solar #panels