Tariffs and self-consumption
What your own solar power is worth depends on the tariff you buy from and what, if anything, you are paid for exporting. This section explains dynamic tariffs, export schemes and the simple maths of self-consumption.
2 pages
In this section
Dynamic electricity tariffs and home batteries explained
How dynamic and time-of-use tariffs work, why they need a smart meter, and when a home battery can earn extra by charging cheap and discharging dear.
Feed-in payments or self-consumption: what pays more?
Why a kilowatt-hour you use yourself is usually worth far more than one you export, how to estimate your self-consumption share, and how export schemes differ.
Other sections
Plug-in solar
How balcony and plug-in solar kits work, what the 800 W limit really means, how to mount them and how to work out whether one pays off for you.
Batteries and home storage
When a battery makes sense next to plug-in solar, how the systems differ, how zero export with a smart meter reader works and how big a home battery should be.
Backup power
Portable power stations compared on their data sheets, and what really keeps the lights, the fridge and the router running during a power cut.
Plug-in solar rules by country
Registration, power limits, plugs and landlord rules for plug-in solar across Europe, from Germany and the newly opened UK market to France, Benelux and the south.
Power plants and the grid
How thermal power plants work, how flue gas cleaning removes dust, sulphur, nitrogen oxides and mercury, Europe's electricity mix and how home batteries join virtual power plants.