6 surprising ways solar panels can change how you use energy at home

Installing solar panels on the roof of your home is a big step towards energy independence and sustainability, but the changes don’t stop there. As part of taking control of your electricity bill, solar panels can transform how you use energy at home.

Installing solar panels will completely shift your daily habits and relationship with energy. Electricity will go from something to be used scarcely to something you want to get the most out of. Waste will come to mean something completely different when your home is producing its own energy, which can be stored and sold back to the grid.

If you’re going to capitalise on all that lovely electricity your solar panel system is generating, you’ll need to adapt. Here are the six surprising ways solar panels will change how you use energy at home.

1. You start timing your life around daylight

The main way solar panels can change how you use energy at home is that you’ll start timing your daily habits to use the most energy during daylight hours. You’ll get the most out of your solar panels if you use energy-hungry appliances, such as a washing machine or dishwasher, during the day when your panels are generating electricity.

Peak sunlight hours fall between 10am and 4pm, but that’s not to say you can’t use appliances outside these hours. If you’re typically out of the house all day during the week, investing in a battery at the same time as your solar panels is a wise move so you can use any energy produced during the day in the evening.

2. Your relationship with energy flips

Solar panels will change your relationship with energy because you’ll want to make the most of the electricity they’re creating. So rather than constantly worrying about each penny running the dishwasher is costing you, you’ll actively want to put it on on sunny days, to maximise the energy that your solar panels are producing.

You can capitalise on this even more by installing a battery along with your solar panels, which will allow you to use this energy at night too. An installer such as E.ON Next can help advise on the best battery and tariff options to make the most of the energy your panels are producing during the day.

3. You become obsessed with monitoring apps

Installing solar panels will make you obsessed with monitoring your energy at home. To maximise the energy your panels are producing, you will become skilled at tracking the electricity they’re producing and what your appliances are using to make sure you don’t accidentally draw on the grid.

Many providers, such as E.ON Next offer an app to help you keep track of your energy from your phone. But you’ll also adopt little tricks, such as using one appliance at a time to make tracking your energy usage easier.

4. Big purchases start to revolve around electricity

Once you install solar panels, any investment that uses the electricity your panels produce will become more appealing. A new electric vehicle suddenly makes a lot more financial sense if you’re able to charge it using your own solar energy. The same goes for a heat pump, which can help save on heating bills.

It also means you’ll become extra savvy about looking out for and only investing in large appliances with an A energy rating, so your home runs as efficiently as possible.

5. You think differently about “waste” (SEG)

Waste takes on a whole new meaning after you install solar panels. Your mindset will switch from ‘wasting energy’, meaning you should turn appliances off, to meaning you should turn appliances on when your panels are generating energy.

There are also other ways to make the most of this ‘wasted’ solar energy. Unused solar energy is something that can be stored in a battery for nighttime or backup use, or it can be sold back to the grid under the Smart Export Guarantee scheme.

Energy provider E.ON Next can help recommend the best battery and tariffs for you as part of the solar panel installation process to help you make the most of all the energy your system generates.

6. Weather suddenly matters a lot more

The weather is going to become a factor in how you use energy at home. While solar panels can still produce energy on cloudy days, they are more effective on clear sunny days when the light is brightest. But, you might also start looking forward to rainy days, as these can also help your solar panels work better long term by washing away any dirt or debris.

You’ll definitely want to capitalise on a sunny day by charging any electric device, running a couple of loads of laundry, or batch cooking in the electric oven or slow cooker. But, you can also make sure that any surplus energy from a sunny day boost is stored for later use with a battery.

Installing solar panels is more than just a home improvement; they will completely overhaul your relationship with energy. You’ll be eagerly checking weather forecasts and energy monitoring apps, and celebrating those super sunny days when your solar panels are working at their very best.