Our tips & tricks to getting the most from your solar

Did you know that Australia receives around 56 million petajoules (PJ)  of solar radiation each year? In easy to understand terms, that means our country has the potential to receive more than 10,000 times its energy consumption in solar radiation. The entire continent is home to some of the best resources for solar energy in the world.

If you already have solar panels installed at home, I’m sure you are aware of many of the benefits of having a solar system. From lower power bills to having a minimal impact on the environment, there are a variety of ways you can make your solar energy system work for you. However, there are a few ways you can maximise the system’s impact even further.

This guide will discuss our top tips and tricks to make the most of having solar energy at home, make the most out of your investment and recoup your installation costs faster.

Take advantage of the sunshine

Shift your high-energy usage and charging activities to during the day. By charging your phones and doing your laundry during the day, you won’t use the electricity from the grid. You’ll be essentially using free electricity while the sun is shining directly onto your panels.

Some activities you can shift to the daytime hours include:

• Charging your computers and tablets
• Running your pool pumps
• Operating whitegood appliances, like dishwashers, slow cookers, dryers, washing machines and ovens.

If you’re not at home during the day and can’t manually turn on your appliances, you can buy and use a powerpoint timer. By setting up a timer, you’ll ensure that your appliances turn on when you want them to and switch off when it’s in the evening.

Don’t waste any power

In addition to making the most of the hot Australian sun for your home solar system, you should make sure you’re not wasting any power. Running an energy audit on your home is a great place to get started.

A few modifications you can make to trim your energy usage include:

• Only heating or lighting rooms that you’re using
• Turning off lights and lamps during the day
• Use fans to cool down your home instead of air conditioners
• Ensure that your home is properly insulated
• Disconnected electrical items that aren’t in use

It’s easy to cut down on your power usage when you’re aware of how much you’re using that you don’t need. The less energy your home uses, the more you can add back into the solar power grid.

Maintain and clean your Solar Panels

Your solar panel system is exposed to the outdoors and all the elements that come along with it. As they get dirty, their efficiency will decrease. To increase your solar panel output, you need to check that your panel are free from debris and grim.

Although rainwater can cut through some of the dust that’s built up on your panels, keep in mind that it won’t clean off everything that’s coating your solar panels, like crusted-on bird poop.

However, you shouldn’t attempt to climb on your roof and clean your solar panels yourself. You should contact a reputable solar panel repair company to clean off and provide routine maintenance for your solar panels.

When the technician comes out to clean off your panels, they can also review your system to ensure everything is operating to full capacity. This can include reviewing and servicing your solar inverter. We recommend you to have this done once a year.

You can also expect to have your inverter replaced after five to 10 years. Your inverter is a critical component of your system as it converts solar radiation into usable energy. It needs to be operating smoothly to ensure your system is bringing in as much energy as possible.

Have a Solar Battery installed

A solar battery is incredibly useful for your home. If the power goes out in your neighbourhood, you can still power your home and use electricity. It allows you to store the energy the panels generate during the day to use in the future.

Over the years, the technologies surrounding solar batteries have improved. You can store hours of electricity to use when the sun isn’t out without having to rely on your electrical backup.

Additionally, any power that overflows from your solar battery can go to the electrical grid. Your energy bill will decrease as you have another guaranteed source of power.

Switch out your lightbulbs

Lighting is a major contribution to your energy costs. How many times have you gone into a room only to realise you forgot to turn off the light hours ago? Switching out your outdated lightbulbs to LED ones is a great way to cut back on your energy consumption.

LED bulbs also don’t heat up as much as older bulbs do. As a result, they last far longer. You’ll save money over time by not having to purchase as many lightbulbs when your old ones burn out.

Track your Energy Usage with mobile apps

Many solar inverters come equipped with mobile apps. In the app, you can track how much energy your home uses and if your system is having issues. You can filter what energy usage you see by the hour, day, or week.

You can use this information to see when your home uses the most energy from your solar panels. You can alter how much energy you use and look for areas where you’re potentially wasting energy.

Contact our Solar Panel experts for more

Your home’s solar panels are an investment that you can expect to last over 20 years. Follow our tips and tricks to take full advantage of your solar panel system, ensuring they continue to produce energy for many years to come.

Contact our office today to schedule a routine maintenance appointment, today!