New Dawn Energy Solutions offer net metering solar power options made of high quality tier-one equipment – solar panels, inverters, energy storage – all of which are quality tested to provide the best energy solution for your home. These net metering options can also be combined with our EV charging and heat pump solutions.
Among the top questions people frequently ask about how residential solar power works are:
- What happens when my solar panels generate more electricity than I use during daylight hours?
- How do I power my home when the sun isn’t shining?
Simple grid-tied photovoltaic (PV) solar systems do not have to have batteries to store the electricity generated by their rooftop solar energy systems for later use. That means when your solar panels produce electricity, it goes first to powering the lights, appliances, and electronics in your home. If your solar power system produces less electricity than you need, the rest is automatically supplied from the utility grid.
If your solar power system produces more electricity than you need, the extra electricity gets delivered back to the utility grid. Then you get credited for the electricity you deliver back to the grid at the same retail price that you pay for the electricity you take from the grid.
So the most common answer to the first question about what happens when solar panels generate more electricity than the homeowner can use during the day is that, the excess electricity flows back to the grid to serve nearby neighbor’s needs while your meter essentially runs backwards and creates credits for you.
The answer to the second question about how to power a solar home at night is the homeowner uses electricity from the grid when the solar power system is not generating enough to power the home’s needs. But with net metering, the homeowner is only billed for the “net” energy used each month, that is, the difference between the energy produced by the solar power system and the energy consumed by the house over the monthly billing period.
The benefits of net metering
Net metering makes residential solar energy system ownership even more attractive and affordable for many families. Transmission, distributions and HST chargers are paid only for the electricity purchased and it can save homeowners hundreds more dollars per year on their utility bills. The federal government’s Greener Home Loan for solar make solar affordable with $40,000.00 Zero Interest loan for ten years.
The utilities also benefits from generating electricity near the point of use, which in turn reduces strain on the grid’s distribution infrastructure and minimizes energy loss from sending current over long distances.