With solar energy systems, there are three basic types of configurations that can help you enjoy the utility of the renewable energy source in different manners. While all of them can allow you to tap into the resourcefulness and the energy of the sun, these configurations also allow for battery storage, and may also allow users to sell their unused energy back to the grid. Whatever is feasible for the consumer. Therefore, in this blog post, we will first discuss which solar energy system configurations will allow you to store energy, and which configurations will allow you to sell excess energy back into the grid. Finally, we will also discuss whether storing solar energy or selling it back to the grid is much more beneficial.
Lets start with the configurations of different solar energy systems. Beacon Energy, the best solar company in Pakistan, boasts the best solar energy solutions designed to give you maximum efficiency and energise your life without having you pay extra. With their flagship INTRIX and INTRIX HV systems, experience solar unlike ever before.
Solar Energy System Configuration: The different types
Solar energy systems in Pakistan and globally come in three essential configurations, all of which have their own set of benefits and advantages. Out of the three of them, all three offer some usability and utility in terms of storage options for solar energy, or providing an incentive for consumers to sell their excess energy back to the grid and earn some credits towards their already-low utility bills. Lets start by looking at the three configurations and explain what utility they provide in either aspects.
i. On-grid solar energy systems:
The most popular configuration for solar energy systems in Pakistan. As their name implies, on-grid systems utilize solar energy infrastructure that remains embedded within the grid input to the premises and is used to supplement the energy flow to the premises. These systems do not offer battery support, which means that solar energy storage is out of the equation. However, since the system is hooked up directly in the grid input to the premises, the option to pump excess solar energy back to the grid exists, and while it requires the consumer to enable net-metering on their solar energy system, once enabled, any excess energy that the system generates can be sold back to the grid for credits towards the utility bill of the consumer. This reason makes on-grid solar energy solutions the most popular configuration for such systems in Pakistan and worldwide.
ii. Hybrid Solar Energy Systems:
Hybrid, as their name suggests, is the configuration that essentially offers the best of both worlds. Hybrid solar energy solutions work in tandem with the grid energy, working to fill in gaps where grid power might fail to energise the premises. The best part about hybrid solar energy solutions is the fact that on their own, hybrid solutions are able to energise the premises without any input from the grid at all. On-grid systems are not configured to provide emergency energy during grid shutdowns, which is why hybrid systems are considered more superior than their on-grid counterparts. What’s more, hybrid solar energy solutions also offer both battery storage as well as the ability to sell excess energy back to the grid, meaning that if a consumer wants both options to be available at all times, the system configuration of choice will be a hybrid solar energy solution.
iii. Off-grid Solar Energy Systems:
Off-grid solar energy systems are the exact opposite of the two options mentioned beforehand. As their name suggests, they are completely off the grid and are configured to energise the premises on their own without any input from the grid at all. Since there is no grid to begin with, obviously, there is no concept of selling back to the grid. However, battery options are considerable, since the whole idea of an off-grid system is to take the premises off the grid. Therefore, off-grid systems are battery or storage-only systems that minimize or completely sever the connection of the premises to the grid.
Storing Energy or selling to the grid: which is better?
Most of the time, the answer will be determined by what the requirements of the consumer are. If the consumer requires additional energy during the day and night time, selling back to the grid wont come in handy, and a hybrid solar energy system with good storage support is the better option. On the other hand, if you want to reduce your bills, selling back to the grid is the better option, in which case, the former configurations are the best.
Beacon Energy: The top solar company in Islamabad
For the answer to the question which on-grid inverter is the best in Pakistan, we’ll refer you to the best solar company in Pakistan: Beacon Energy! With their flagship INTRIX and INTRIX HV systems, available in both on-grid and hybrid configurations, experience the best of solar with systems designed to give you complete freedom from the grid and solar efficiency.