Network manager Enexis will start a test in the Waalwijk and Helmond regions, in which residents are paid to temporarily disable their solar panels on sunny days. The test is intended to prevent overload on the grid, where more power has been generated than the electricity grid can handle.
When houses with solar panels generate a lot of electricity on sunny days in the spring and summer, while little energy is used during the day, for example during the weekend If companies use less power, the power grid can often not process electricity supplied.
If the generated current is relatively too much, there is even a threat of overloading. With the test, Enexis wants to find out whether the temporary ‘diming’ of solar panels that can prevent overloading. In June, the network operator wants to perform a number of tests with the solar panels on sunny days, the inverter’s inverter on those days is dimmed on those days. Such a device ensures that solar energy is converted into usable power.
In addition, the company evokes that residents can now already contribute on sunny days. For example, it would turn on the washing machine, loading an electric or hybrid car or cooking at times when the sun shines the hardest to prevent overloading.
Solar parks
This technique is already used in large solar and wind farms. If too much power is generated there while the consumption is low during the day, they switch off. The residents in Waalwijk and Helmond who participate will receive a reimbursement of 30 cents per kilowatt hour.
From the end of May, the network operator will approach people in the Waalwijk and Helmond regions for the test, in total there is room for 500 participants. Enexis sees that in those regions the pressure on the power grid on sunny days often increases.