When searching for information on photovoltaic systems, you will often find various information. Consumer advocates are now clearing up errors.
Renewable energies are becoming more and more important – this also includes solar energy, which can be used, for example, via photovoltaic systems. And there is a great desire for electricity from your own roof. However, over time, some misconceptions about solar energy have crept into the general consciousness.
Myth 1: “Thanks to the system on the roof and storage I am independent”
This assumption is not correct, according to the consumer advice center in North Rhine-Westphalia. A photovoltaic system can only take over a certain proportion of the household’s annual electricity supply – even with a connected battery storage system.
“One speaks here of the degree of self-sufficiency, which can be between 25 and 90 percent, depending on whether storage is available and how high the power consumption is,” says the consumer advice center. The rest of the necessary electricity must then be purchased from the grid in any case.
Plants in Germany produce too little electricity, particularly during the cold season. An entire household cannot be supplied with it, not even with battery storage.
Myth 2: “A south-facing roof is always better than an east-west roof”
Although a photovoltaic system on a south-facing roof generates around 20 percent more electricity than on an east-west roof, private households are primarily concerned with using the electricity themselves.
The consumer advice center refers to the decisive advantages of the east-west roof: With this, the feed-in is spread over the whole day. In the early morning and later in the day, the system gets more sun there. In this way, you can use more electricity yourself.
Myth 3: “A system is only worthwhile with battery storage”
A photovoltaic system is financially worthwhile even without storage. Whether an additional electricity storage system is worthwhile depends on the individual case.
On the one hand, there are often high acquisition costs for battery storage. On the other hand, saving and later self-consumption can be worthwhile. Because with new photovoltaic systems, the remuneration for a kilowatt hour of electricity fed into the grid is less than 10 cents – mains electricity, on the other hand, often costs around 40 cents per kilowatt hour.
