Photovoltaic installations connected to the electricity grid (Photovoltaic self-consumption)

Photovoltaic installations connected to the electricity grid work as if they were just another generator, that is, they are an electricity production plant that supplies energy to an electricity grid. It can be an installation for the sale of energy to the network or an installation for self-consumption. 

Photovoltaic installations connected to the electricity grid (Photovoltaic self-consumption)

We will deal with the installations for the sale of energy to the network at another time, today we will deal with the installations for self-consumption, therefore those that contribute energy to an internal electrical network to a supply. Today we are going to learn a little more about how it works and the elements that make up this type of photovoltaic installation.

The energy consumption of a home with a photovoltaic installation connected to the electricity grid is not made exclusively from solar panels. What does this mean? That the energy generated by the photovoltaic panels of our consumption system is normally not enough to cover all consumption and therefore, the house will also be powered by the energy that comes from the supply network, paying the generating company for the kWh that consume of it.

You can find self-consumption systems with connection to the grid of any type of power, but the most common are in the range between 1.5kW and 100 kW. Contemplating installations of photovoltaic solar panels in a multitude of spaces that can be installed (roofs, terraces, ground,…) in homes, warehouses, industrial buildings, production plants, building integration and more, we can already see that the applications that can be give to a photovoltaic self-consumption installation are very different and varied, yes, for them to be grid-connected self-consumption installations, they must all be connected to the electricity grid.

Elements that make up photovoltaic installations connected to the electricity grid

A photovoltaic system connected to the electricity grid is mainly composed of two elements:

• The first of these is the group of photovoltaic solar panels , a piece responsible for transforming solar radiation into electrical energy, produced in direct current and whose generated power depends a lot on the intensity of solar radiation and temperature.
• The second element is the inverter. This small device has the task of transforming the electrical energy received by the panels into perfectly consumable alternating current, with the same characteristics as that which exists in the electrical network. The inverter is an element that we can get of different powers, both in single-phase and in three-phase and that we must choose according to our needs.

Apart from these main elements, more and more other elements are being added to the installation:

• The solar system’s own energy meter. This small piece of equipment must be included in self-consumption facilities that do not wish to discharge into the network or that include batteries.
• Accumulation batteries, which are usually used in self-consumption installations where most of the consumption cannot be carried out during daylight hours, and therefore energy is accumulated during daylight hours, in order to be able to take advantage of it when there is no sun.

Photovoltaic installations connected to the electricity grid have become one of the most attractive options when it comes to alternative energies. A type of system that has managed to provide benefits to those who demand not only more efficiency, but also that at the end of the road it represents significant savings on the electricity bill, especially given the vertiginous increases in electricity rates that we have suffered in recent years. last years.