Photovoltaics

Due to the ongoing increase in electricity prices, most recently five times higher in our case, we have also decided to install a photovoltaic system. When we built the house 11 years ago, I had an empty conduit installed for this to be on the safe side. However, a PV system has not been necessary until now as we have paid very little for electricity. And that's despite the fact that we have a few "power guzzlers", such as geothermal heating, pumps from the swimming pond, sauna, office, etc.

In recent years, of course, photovoltaic technology has also advanced and the return on investment has been reduced from 20 years to 8-10 years - thanks to the current high electricity prices.

Personal recommendations from experience

We had 3 days to plan for the installation of a PV system. Firstly, the solar panels were installed on the roof, which was done relatively quickly. Here it is sensible to plan for reserve panels, i.e. more than is currently needed for power generation, as the purchase is only slightly more expensive than retrofitting.

The empty pipework that another electrician did 11 years ago caused us stress. We heard on the upper floor that the cable to be pulled in from the roof was on the ground floor and wouldn't slide any further. I was worried that a wall would have to be chiselled open and we would end up with a building site in the living area. The electricians were really very patient and in the end a lot of washing-up liquid helped to get the PV cable through the pipe.

The next day, the associated devices, such as the inverter and emergency power system, were installed in the plant room. On the third day, an electrician had to come to connect the system. Unfortunately, the system can only be connected in advance for trial operation. Ultimately, the PV system has to be approved by the energy company before it can be officially put into operation. The strange thing is that this can take months again - being self-sufficient is not really wanted!

We can use an app to monitor exactly how much electricity is needed for the house, how much we generate ourselves and how much electricity we supply. Unfortunately, the WiFi didn't work here at first either, because the telephone operator apparently realised that no mobile phone would log in in this case. So we had to send another letter to the telephone company to get our Wi-Fi activated.

In times like these, everything takes a long time when a third person is involved. We had to wait 3 days for a reply to our email. Even the customer centre, where a human rather than a robot answered, was unable to help us.

It's worth it - no question about it!

Conclusion: It is great fun and very interesting to be able to observe your own electricity behaviour. The use of electricity changes accordingly and is utilised according to the position of the sun. What amazes me is that despite the cloudy weather, without seeing a spark of sunshine, electricity is still produced and that's really fun!

You may have to overcome enormous obstacles to obtain the necessary authorisations, but the result is worth it!