Solar: Energy Feast or Famine

I have a solar energy setup for my home. I got it for different reasons. One of them is so I can tap into the energy of the sun instead of whatever my electricity provider is using (hint: it’s not what you think it is!)

It’s about one year now since the solar system came online and life with solar energy is great.

…while the sun is out!

When the sun is out, it’s an energy feast! I focus on getting every electron into the home or battery - otherwise, that electron goes into the ether… lost forever. So, I do as much as I can with electricity - my electric bill will be the same whether I use electricity or not.

On cloudy or stormy days, it’s an energy famine - I focus on using the least amount of electricity as possible. Making sure my battery has enough charge to get us through the night after the sun sets. I do whatever I can so we don’t run out of electricity in the battery.

For bad days or successive cloudy days, there’s low charge or the battery runs out. That’s when our system taps back into the grid for our electricity. That’s when using more costs more - a lot more!

With solar, it’s either an energy feast, where just use electrical appliances without a worry, OR energy famine, where I’m counting every watt with every appliance switched on.

It’s a really interesting perspective shift on electricity usage!