What is self-consumption
We talk about self-consumption when, to cover your own consumption, you use the electricity produced by your own photovoltaic system, without passing through the public electricity grid. When a photovoltaic system produces energy, in fact, the electricity generated can be immediately used to power electrical appliances and local activities where it is installed (for example, a business or home). This leads to significant advantages:
- reduction of energy bills: if you use the energy produced by your system to cover part of your consumption, you are not forced to purchase that same energy from your supplier. This translates into an immediate reduction in energy costs and therefore significantly lower bills;
- protection from price fluctuations: Electricity costs can vary significantly over time. In 2025, for example, energy-related costs are expected to rise significantly, due to international geopolitical instability. By consuming self-produced energy, companies and families are less vulnerable to rising energy prices and can count on greater financial stability;
- environmental sustainability: consuming self-produced solar energy reduces dependence on fossil energy sources, helps reduce CO₂ emissions and, in general, promotes a more sustainable energy model.
How to increase your self-consumption percentage?
Although it is never possible to achieve complete independence from the national energy grid, unless you opt for completely off-grid solutions, installing a photovoltaic system always leads to a increase in one’s self-consumption percentage. To maximize However, self-consumption, and therefore one’s own savings, should be kept in mind as much as possible some small precautions:
- optimize consumption during solar production hours: concentrating energy-intensive activities during daylight hours means exploiting as much as possible the energy coming from your photovoltaic system, which produces energy when the sun is shining;
- use smart appliances and intelligent energy management systems. In this way, it is possible to activate household appliances when the photovoltaic system is producing more energy, in order to exploit it as much as possible;
- invest in high-performance storage systems to maximize the use of the energy produced. In fact, photovoltaic systems often produce – especially in summer – more energy than is needed to cover daytime consumption. This excess energy, which is not consumed instantly, in the absence of a storage system, is paid into the grid, at rates that are often lower than the purchase cost.
Why storage batteries improve self-consumption and ROI (return on investment)
As we have seen, not all the solar energy produced by photovoltaic systems is consumed at the exact moment it is produced. During peak hours, a surplus is often generated which, without a storage system, is fed into the grid, reducing the potential economic benefits. The sale of energy to the gridIndeed, It doesn’t lead to huge gainsunless you have large systems and you transfer almost all the energy that is produced to the grid, because the consumption to be covered is negligible.
In most cases, however, the energy produced and not consumed during the day is fed into the electricity grid, at a lower price than the cost at which it will have to be purchased at a later time. Which means that, when it is necessary to withdraw energy from the grid it will be necessary to pay for it at a higher price than the one at which it was soldeven just a few hours before. For this reason, it is important to use the greatest possible percentage of the energy produced, without going through the grid. And this is where the batterieswhich allow you to conserve the energy surplus and use it in the evening hours or in case of bad weatherfurther reducing grid dependency.
The advantages of storage systems: a concrete example
If you have a photovoltaic system that produces 10 kWh per day and a daily consumption of 10 kWhin theory the two should balance each other perfectly: without storage batteries, however, this is not exactly the case. In fact, suppose that during the daylight hours they come only 6 kWh usedwhile the remaining 4 kWh are used in the evening. Without a storage system, i 4 kWh produced during the day would be fed into the grid and subsequently repurchased for evening use at a higher price than the selling price. With a storage system, the same 4 kWh can be stored and used directly in the evening, avoiding passage through the national grid. This allows for a further reduction in expenses and a faster return on investment.
A photovoltaic system equipped with a well-designed storage system can increase self-consumption by up to 70% or moreguaranteeing even greater savings and a faster return on investment of the photovoltaic system. Precisely for this reason, Svea Solar, a multinational active in the design and installation of turnkey photovoltaic systems at a national level, is proposing an unmissable offer valid until 31 March 2025. By purchasing a photovoltaic system by this date, you will be entitled to get a 7 kWh battery for the price of a 5 kWh one. This promotion is a unique opportunity for those who want enhance self-consumption and benefit from one greater storage capacity and one 15 year guaranteeto be even more sure of your investment.
For further information
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