When it is one degree warmer, our power consumption increases. That’s because we use fans and air conditioning to cool ourselves. In addition, refrigerators and freezers have to run faster to stay cold. Only solar panels can prevent the bill from rising sharply, says Martien Visser, professor of Energy Transition at Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen.
“The yield of solar panels does decrease slightly when it gets warmer,” says Visser. “When it gets one degree warmer, the yield decreases by about 0.5 percent.” The power consumption increases by 1 percent when it gets one degree warmer.
On a day like this, that equates to 10 percent more consumption. “And the solar panels then yield 5 percent less”, Visser calculates. “On a cloudy day that is about 50 percent less, so it certainly pays off.”
Of course, consumption does not decrease when you have solar panels. “The bill does, and certainly in this day and age that saves a lot.”
Of course, many people do not have air conditioning, or perhaps no fan. “The cheapest way to keep it cold in the house is to keep everything closed during the day and open at night,” says Visser.
We do use the heat a lot less for heating, which also makes a significant difference to the energy bill. “It has been warmer than normal for months and certainly with the high gas prices we quickly burn much less.”
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