CAN WE REDUCE OUR DEPENDENCY ON ENERGY COMPANIES OR EVEN GO OFF-GRID?
One of the dreams of all of us is undoubtedly to stop paying our energy bills. Especially during winter times, this big outlay is often unbearable.
The reason why we need to pay so much is because we have to buy at least two things we can’t do without: gas for the heat in winter and electricity to lighten our nights and to run our essential appliances such as a fridge-freezer and a washing machine.
But, do we really need to buy gas and electricity? Of course we do, as long as our homes are not designed and built much, much better. For the reduction and even the elimination of gas consumption, I suggest the reading of the following articles: “How to give British houses their real value and reduce their carbon emission?” and “The energy bill” where the problem of heating old leaky houses is addressed extensively.
In this article I want to find out whether there is a way of reducing and eventually terminating our eternal dependency on energy companies.
Obviously, the first thing we need to do is reducing as much as possible our domestic electricity consumption by a responsible use of it and by switching to low energy consumption light bulbs and appliances. After we have managed to reduce to minimum our household electricity demand, we can start thinking how we can slowly but continuously pulling the electric plug off the socket of our electricity provider.
What we need to do is clear: we need to generate on-site the amount of electricity that we need throughout the year. One possible source for this generation is of course the sun.
The question is: do we really need to install a grid-tie photovoltaic solar system, or can we go totally off-grid? What is best in the short and long term?
Many of us have probably been bombarded with the idea that we have to install grid tie domestic solar systems in order to benefit from the government feed-in tariffs. But is it true that the only way to install a bunch of solar panels on our rooftops is to spend £10-12K to get an MCS certified system in order to join the feed in tariffs scheme? Don’t we get that sneaky feeling that this is again a kind of cartel, a mechanism worked out by the lobby of electricity companies to earn money even when we (the consumers) think we are finally trying to end our dependency and achieve our domestic freedom?
The Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) is a scheme founded and led by major players in the energy industry, among which we find the energy providers. The underlying idea of the scheme is as follows: if anyone wants to earn money through the feed-in tariffs scheme, they need to have an MCS certified photovoltaic system, installed by MCS certified installers. MCS installers and renewable energy equipment manufacturers need to pay an annual fee to keep the certification valid and the entire chain of certifications means that the extra costs are passed on to the consumers. This is why a photovoltaic system that would cost not more than £4-5,000 eventually costs £10-12,000.
Then, thanks to the feed-in tariffs scheme, we get back the money we pay at installation time to the MSC scheme in 8-10 years. The result is that we are still continuing to pay the energy companies, which is what we want to avoid.
Sadly, the reality is that it is very difficult to go off-grid at home without doing radical changes to our lifestyle. The good news is that we can switch to an “almost” off-grid life by doing it gradually.
In practice, there are four different configurations we can choose from to power our home with a solar electricity installation:
- Stand alone (off-grid)
- Grid tie
- Grid tie with power backup
- Grid fallback
Let’s quickly go through each one of the above configurations. I’ll get back to them in details in following articles.
In a stand alone system (off-grid system) electricity is generated by solar panels, stored in batteries and then used as required. The principle of an off-grid system is used worldwide in many applications, from pocket calculators to boats, sheds, caravans or even complete homes.
Grid tie systems have become quite popular in Europe and North America thanks to the government incentives such as the ability to earn money by selling electricity back to the grid. Also, the introduction of feed-in tariffs that are paid to the electricity producer just for the fact that they are generating electricity (even if they use it all on-site) has boosted this kind of installation.
In a grid tie system, the electricity generated is used to power our home. Any surplus electricity is sold back to the grid. When the sun is not shining, we need to buy electricity from the energy companies.
In grid tie systems there is no need for battery banks to store electricity, though an inverter is required to connect the solar panels, which generate low voltage DC current, to the high voltage AC current grid.
A grid tie system with power backup is essentially the same as a grid tie system, but with the addition of a bank of batteries to provide power backup in case of power cuts.
A grid fallback system is probably the most interesting configuration for household solar power systems. This type of installation is cost effective and extremely efficient.
In a grid fallback system, electricity is generated by the solar panels and charges a battery bank. Electricity is then taken from the batteries and run through an inverter to power the electric circuits from the distribution panel. When the batteries run low, the system automatically switches across to grid power until the batteries have recharged.
Compared to a grid tie system, a grid fallback system is much simpler and cheaper to install. Also, in the UK, since we don’t need to apply for any feed-in tariffs scheme, neither the system nor the installers need to be MCS certified. We can build a grid fallback system to power at least one of the electric circuits of a house for a few hundred pounds while even a very modest grid tie system costs thousands of pounds. I will get back to the cost aspect with more precise calculations in following articles.
In conclusion, a grid fallback system provides many of the benefits of a grid tie system with the extra benefit that we use our own electricity when we need it rather than when the sun is providing it, thereby reducing our reliance on the national utility grid during peak demand periods.
Also, a grid fallback approach gives much more flexibility and scalability. Since it is possible to start building the system with very little investment, we may decide to start with a pretty small system and then extend it gradually in the future, towards an “almost” off-grid solution. With a grid tie system this scalability is much more difficult, since even the first small block may cost thousands of pounds.
From the next article I am going to analyse more in details different solar power system configurations, to find the best and most economical way to start reducing our electricity bills and, possibly, our dependency on electricity companies.
With thanks to our friends at Zero emission Project.