After a little more than six months of use, our solar PV system is working like a dream.
Here is a review of the performance over that time and how it has affected our daily life.
In answer to the last part, the effect has been minimal. We think more about our electricity use and plan the high consumption work during the daylight as much as possible.
But with the extended hot and dry Summer it is gratifying to know that powering the air conditioner with 'free' electricity means that we can use the system for many more hours in a day than we would do if we were paying our electricity supplier. The house remains comfortable, even overnight. The cost of running our home server, home automation, and security system is no longer an issue. In addition, we can use the washing machine on warm or hot wash for effective cleaning and not have to wait 2½ hours for the super-eco was cycle.
We still have to pass through a full winter of limited daylight for days on end, but now we are accustomed to the system it should be fairly easy to manage. We do have a backup generator to add charge to the batteries in the event that the weather fails to give us the required energy. By my calculations it should get little use, but it is there if we need it.
The image below shows our generation and consumption levels during the past 6 months (March 1st to August 31st 2026). You may have to zoom in on small devices to read the text.
Important factors include; the average battery level remains in the 80-90% range and the level does not fall below 40%, generation is always higher than consumption. Using the system to charge Janet's car is another bonus, we poured 242 kWh into the car battery at no cost to us, even though the car is fully financed. This is good practice for the future when Janet retires from work and we need to buy a car - it will certainly be a full-electric vehicle.
It is encouraging to see that my estimate of 510 kWh average usage was not far out. March was an unusual month where we tested the loading on the system by using the air-con heating system and a dehumidifier for the basement area most days.
We estimate that this first six months of use has saved almost 500€ of payments to the electric supplier, with the added benefits as outlined previously.
Once we do change to a self financed car, the benefits will be huge, as we will only need to visit a public charging station when we take long trips, or perhaps in winter when the system energy is limited. Filling the car battery with 'excess' solar energy has to be one of the greatest benefits to enjoy.
The next performance review in six months will show us a full year of results.
