Dutch Homeowner Wants to be Able to Put Solar Panels on Pause

Vianen, December 14, 2023 - More ways to save on energy costs, by putting your own solar panels on pause when there are negative power prices. That's what around 90% of Dutch consumers want.

* Market research commissioned by SolarEdge conducted by Continews among a representative sample within an ISO certified research group of more than 37,000 people, with 1,006 respondents.

Negative power prices

Do you own solar panels that you use to generate solar energy and feed power back during hours with negative power prices? If so, you will not receive compensation for these kWh's, but must pay for your feed-in. So it is a good idea to use your own solar power as much as possible (during the hours with negative power prices). By putting the solar panels on pause at just those times, you save even more on energy costs.

Great need for pause button

A pause button to put solar panels on pause during negative power prices provides consumers with more control over their energy supply. The survey shows that 84.5% of Dutch consumers are familiar with the concept of negative power prices. As many as 91% say they would like to exert greater influence on energy costs. Over 88% of respondents would pause their own solar panels if they could save money by doing so.

Solution at hand

Market leader SolarEdge is introducing the 'Negative tariff optimization' function in the Benelux countries with immediate effect for its users.

The new optimization feature is designed to automatically pause inverter production when export tariffs are negative. Homeowners with dynamic energy contracts can enable the feature on the mySolarEdge app and avoid charges for exporting excess electricity to the grid. The feature is part of *SolarEdge One which is designed to overcome homeowner uncertainty around prevailing rates. This Energy Optimization System makes hundreds of energy decisions every day based on predictions of solar production, energy consumption patterns and electricity rates. It allows homeowners to maximize the use of excess solar power, exploit off-peak periods and optimize home energy use instantly, saving energy and costs. The new optimization feature is immediately available to system owners in the Benelux region.

Country: Nethrlands.