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Solar energy is a great investment for your home, even if you aren’t looking for anything more than a way to generate electricity without relying on an external company. No matter which area you live in, installing solar energy panels is a financial decision that people rarely regret.
With the installation of solar panels, many homeowners wonder if there’s a way to sell the energy that they’re harnessing. After all, solar panels are a significant investment, and anything you can do to earn back the money you spent is worth looking into. Let’s look into how you can sell surplus energy back into the grid.
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Can I Sell Surplus Energy Back to the Grid?
The simple answer is “yes”, although you may not necessarily get cash in return for the surplus energy.
While you can sell surplus energy back to the grid, you shouldn’t expect to make a fortune doing so. In addition, you need to account for the fact that your solar panels must power your home before they can provide excess energy to sell.
Most utility companies have policies in place that won’t allow you to profit significantly from it. These policies do make it difficult or even impossible to really make money off of selling surplus solar energy back to the grid.
When it comes to selling your surplus energy back to the grid, you should really think of it more as a free storage bank. Most utility companies will give you a credit for the energy, though some may buy the energy at a wholesale price. That is to say, not for a high price.
Through net metering, utility companies track how much energy your solar panels send back into the grid. They won’t send you a check in the mail, but they also won’t charge you if you have to draw energy from the grid when your solar panels aren’t functioning, or there isn’t enough solar energy to power your home.
Net metering keeps a clear track record of how much energy each home uses or produces. It’s how utility companies know what to bill you for each month. When you have solar panels, it’s how utility companies know what to credit you for.
Here’s an example:
Say your solar panel system produces 41 kWh during the day and your home only uses 15 kWh. The remaining 26 kWh will be sent into the grid, and your local utility company will track this through net metering. Then, at night, when your solar panels are no longer producing energy, you’re able to use up to 26 kWh from the grid free of charge!
Most people don’t view this as a bad thing. While they aren’t getting cash or checks for their energy, they also aren’t paying to use energy from the grid.
Conclusion
Selling surplus energy back into the grid is possible, but it’s not in the way that you might expect. Regardless, solar energy will still save you money in the long run and will prove to be a worthwhile investment over the years. Call us today to take advantage of solar power and lower your utility bills with the help of solar panels!