Sustainability matters more than ever and solar power is one of the biggest ways to save the planet and your wallet, but figuring out how to optimise your solar to be as efficient as possible can be confusing, and you could be secretly paying more for your solar energy than you need to be. That's where Shelly comes in! We've got some easy steps to help you navigate the world of solar energy to ensure your use your solar energy as efficiently as possible and saving your wallet in the meantime.
How Solar Power Saves The Planet
Let's start with the basics: why is solar energy so important? To keep it simple, it's one of the main ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. By harnessing energy from the sun, we can generate electricity without relying on fossil fuels, which means fewer harmful emissions released into the atmosphere. Plus, solar energy is abundant, renewable, and free – once you've installed the panels, the sun does all the work!
Challenges Of Solar
One of the biggest challenges with solar power is balancing your energy consumption with the amount of solar energy your panels are producing. This is where net metering plays a role in how efficient you’re being with your solar energy usage. Net metering is like an exchange between your home and the power grid. When you have solar panels and they make more electricity than you need, that extra power goes back to the grid. In return, your utility company gives you credits for the electricity you share. Later, when your solar panels aren't making enough electricity, like at night or on cloudy days, you can use those credits to get electricity from the grid. But it's not always a straightforward process – selling your extra energy to the grid often means you receive a lower wholesale rate while you have to pay higher retail rates whenever you use grid power.
To make your solar more efficient, you want to maximise your self-consumption, which means using the electricity that your solar panels generate, and not using grid power. While selling excess energy to the grid is a way to offset billing, you want to reduce reliance on grid power as much as possible. This is where Shelly products help. Shelly devices offer a solution to this problem by allowing you to monitor and control your energy consumption, maximising your self-consumption of your solar energy and minimising reliance on grid power.
How Shelly Devices Can Help
You can install power metering devices like Shelly Plus 1PM that can control and measure power consumption of 120-volt lights and outlets while also providing detailed insights into the energy consumption of each circuit. With the Shelly Plus 1PM, you gain the ability to effortlessly manage the operation of your lighting and essential appliances according to your schedule and needs.
However, Shelly Plus 1PM’s real power lies in its ability to optimize your solar power usage. By combining the power monitoring capabilities of the Shelly Plus 1PM with Shelly Pro 3EM which is able to oversee appliances, measure whole-house energy consumption, and track solar panel production, you can precisely align the electricity generated by your solar panels with your home's consumption patterns.
With Shelly Plus 1PM, you can set schedules to turn your lights on at sunset and off at sunrise, saving you energy and money. And with our Shelly Pro 3EM energy meter, you can even control big appliances like water heaters or pool pumps to turn off on days your solar panels aren’t producing as much energy like on cloudy or rainy days.
This ensures that you maximize the benefits of your solar investment while minimizing waste, ultimately leading to greater efficiency and cost savings with it’s ability to turn off unneeded circuits during peak demand hours or turning off devices before you start using power from the grid. By seamlessly integrating with your solar panel system and enabling precise control over your home's energy use, Shelly products empower you to reduce your reliance on grid electricity and maximize your self-consumption. Plus, with features like automation and scripting, you can fine-tune your energy management to suit your specific needs.
A Brighter Future with Solar and Shelly
In conclusion, harnessing the power of solar energy is not only good for the planet but also for your wallet. And with Shelly smart devices, you can make your solar investment more efficient by optimizing your energy usage and maximizing your savings. So start building a brighter future for yourself and the planet today with solar power and Shelly smart devices by your side.
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