Solar PV panels installed across rooftops at home may instantly generate a sense of satisfaction for having contributed your bit to reduce CO2 emissions for a greener planet. Actually you add more value to them when the energy they generate is used efficiently. Exporting energy back to the grid yields you little good if you take a closer look into the math involved in the returns. The price of energy purchased from your supplier as per the prevailing average rates is 13.52p per unit while the price of energy which you get by selling it back (Feed-in-Tariff) is 4.64p per unit. So, it is no big deal as you are almost getting less than 35 % of the amount you spent in buying it.
During sunny weather, it is very likely that your panels produce more energy than you consume, which means surplus power. Instead of exporting it to the grid, would it not be more sensible to use it? What if it could be diverted to heat water, you could not have asked for more! You may still be in a doubt that you would be losing out on FIT payouts and so, what if the solution worked out without affecting the payout?
The solution is a surplus divert manager like solarimmersion that uses surplus energy generated by your PV panels to heat water in the immersion tank. It is a modulation based device that prevents the surplus from being exported to the grid and diverts it to the existing hot water tank or immersion heater. Besides solar panels it can work with the energy output of Hydro/ Wind Turbine and on cloudy days as well. With this energy management is intelligent as it happens taking into account the varying loads in the house such as when dish washer, washing machine and/or other appliances are in use. The low-cost and maintenance free switch is sure to make way for low energy bills through efficient use of energy and while reaping a better ROI!
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