Geoff Coupe's Blog

Reflections on life at “De Witte Wand”…

A New Dawn

We’ve just had twenty solar panels installed on the roof.

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Apparently, we’ve joined a growing trend in the Netherlands. In 2012, there was 260 MW of energy produced via solar panels – a doubling of what was produced in 2011.

I must admit I get a kick out of watching our electricity meter run backwards – indicating that we are supplying electricity to the national grid (and getting paid for it by the Power Company!), rather than consuming from it.

This is a long term investment – it will probably take ten years to break even, but I’m glad that we’ve done it.

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2 responses to “A New Dawn”

  1. Ludwig Avatar
    Ludwig

    What provisions are planned for storing energy when in daytime the consumers produce more than is consumed?

    Reply
    1. Geoff Coupe Avatar
      Geoff Coupe

      Our solar panels are connected to an inverter made by Nedap – the Powerrouter. This device can have batteries attached to it, so that it can store excess energy for later local consumption.

      However, here in the Netherlands, that’s not a necessary option. During the day, excess power is fed back into the National Power Grid, and the power company pays me for the electricity that I produce. That’s what we have gone for.

      Reply

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