Want to increase your self-consumption? Here’s how to save even more with your solar panels

What does self-consumption mean?

Self-consumption, direct consumption or simultaneous consumption refers to the amount of electricity you consume the moment your solar panels generate that energy. By immediately consuming your energy when the sun shines, you purchase less from the electricity grid and therefore pay less.

An average family with solar panels has a self-consumption rate of 30%. By paying attention to consumption, and possibly smart monitoring via your digital meter, you can easily increase this to 40%. So, a high level of self-consumption makes a solar panel system even more profitable.

Why is self-consumption so important for solar panel owners?

Owners of solar panels with a digital meter can take advantage of several benefits to reduce their electricity bills. After all, they no longer pay a prosumer tariff (the former grid cost based on the converter), but now fall under the actual purchase scheme.

Since your grid cost is based on your actual purchase, it makes sense to consume your generated energy immediately. Otherwise, your unused solar power will be returned to the grid. With a feed-in contract, you receive compensation for this, although the feed-in compensation is a lot lower than the energy price you would pay to buy power from the grid.

Five ways to increase your self-consumption

Your solar panels produce the most output between 11 am and 3 pm, when the sun is at its highest and daylight is strongest. Unfortunately, this is also when most people are working outside the home and have fewer options to consume that energy. Still, there are ways to increase your self-consumption, so that you can enjoy all the benefits of your solar panels remotely.

1. Run your household appliances during the daytime

Since the ‘night rate’ has always been cheaper, we have tended to run our dishwashers and washing machines at night. But if you want to save with your solar panels, it is often much more economical to run those household appliances during the day. Nowadays, almost every appliance has a delay or programming function that lets you easily set your washing machine’s start time at 1 pm. This way, you increase your self-consumption even when you are not at home.

2. Take full advantage of your digital meter

Every Belgian can enjoy an extra benefit from a digital meter. After all, the device can send and receive consumption data independently, allowing you to take advantage of smart data and make targeted savings.

The Luminus EnergyControl Monitor service is a great example. You plug a small device (dongle) into your digital meter and it sends all your home energy data to a smartphone app. This lets you track your consumption, solar production and injection in real time and take advantage of smart data on your consumption and appliances. This data is also linked to your Luminus energy rate. More control means more saving. Learn more about energy monitoring.

Even easier is if you no longer have to set anything yourself and can automate energy savings. With a home management system, you let your smart appliances work automatically, such as when your digital meter indicates that your solar panels are generating a lot of energy. This is the future for all of us, but for those who want it today and whose homes are equipped for it, it is already a reality.

3. Heat your water during the daytime

You can set up an electric or smart boiler or heat pump to heat water during the day using energy from your solar panels. That hot water is then stored in a reservoir, so you can enjoy a hot shower in the evening without having to use electricity to do so.

4. Charge your electric car with your solar panels

Solar panels are an electric car’s best friend, and vice versa. If you work part-time, based on informal working hours or from home, you can charge your electric car with solar power during the day, right? Smart and economical!

5. Store your solar panel surplus in a home battery

Does the energy generation from your solar panels still involve surpluses because you can’t use up everything? A home battery is the perfect solution because it stores energy for later use. As a result, when you need electricity in the evening, the system automatically consumes the stored power from the battery before you purchase from the grid.

Batteries are an extra investment, but they allow you to increase your self-consumption rate to 50% or even 70%, compared to an average of 30%!

The fact that solar panels offer several benefits goes without saying. And by increasing your self-consumption with a few easy adjustments, you can truly get the most out of your system. So, installing solar panels remains one of the most cost-effective energy investments available.