Wednesday 1 May 2013

Homes should be able to sell their solar power “24/7”

Homes with solar panels should get “unlimited access” to the energy grid so they can make a profit from selling their energy around the clock, it was suggested this week.

Home owners in Britain and many other countries can sell any power they don’t use back to the national grid without paying tax on any money they make this way.

However a market intelligence firm says they can’t sell the power 24 hours a day yet because of limiting price and supply agreements.

Henning Wicht, Senior Director of iSuppli believes houses should – and eventually will - be able to supply energy not just during peak times of electricity use.

He said: “The biggest challenge is to enable the producer to supply his energy throughout the entire day – i.e., not only during the afternoon peak hours – and to make this possible for a longer period of time. So-called ‘smart grids’ and storage facilities can assist. They can help private producers to monitor and control their solar energy supply.”

Mr Wicht suggested this will “shake up the current hierarchy”, adding: “It will basically mean that small producers can take control away from the traditional energy utilities.”

He was speaking ahead a conference on global demand, solar power and energy storage in Munich in the summer.