The inquiring minds of young people can produce questions we might not have ever considered before.
In the r/OffGrid Reddit community, one 15-year-old wanted to know what happens when solar panels produce energy that isn't used.
"Google says 'sell it back to the grid', but if I'm off the grid I can't exactly do that," they observed. "Does it just go to waste, disappearing into thin air, or are the solar panels damaged?"
"That's a great question and I'm 54, so keep using your brain!" one user replied. "I did not know the answer either."
Indeed, as our curious young Redditor noted, you can sell excess power generated back to the grid, making it one of the many perks of solar panel ownership in addition to producing free energy for your home, significantly reducing energy bills, and moving away from reliance on an electricity grid that still overwhelmingly needs polluting dirty fuels to create power.
But if you live off-grid, there isn't as much of an opportunity to monetize excess power that's created, unless you have a mutually beneficial partnership with a supplier in your area. Usually, you will also need to access a provider's power to be able to sell back to them.
"Once your battery is full, the battery charge controller stops the flow of electricity," one Redditor replied to the curious original poster. "So, yes the solar panels are sitting there doing nothing at that point."
Some Redditors pointed to "dump loads," or any power-reliant system that can make use of excess energy production, such as water heaters.
"Provided the load is designed to deal with this, neither the panel or the load will be damaged, and just some of the energy that would have been harvested is lost as heat, as opposed to a scenario of no load, where all of the energy is lost as heat," another user added.
🗣️ Would you install water-collecting hydropanels on your home?
🔘 Definitely 👍
🔘 Not sure 🤷
🔘 No way 👎
🔘 If the government pays for it 🤑
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
The same Redditor provided a tl;dr answer to their longer explanation: "They don't produce more than is being used, and the panels will not be damaged."
"Fantastic answer," the OP replied.
While those living off-grid often use renewable solar energy as their primary source of power, homes still connected to the grid can benefit, too. Depending on the size of your family, the size of your property, and your typical energy consumption, you can save hundreds of dollars on energy bills every year by accessing clean, free solar power — and the cost of the tech can be made much cheaper thanks to government incentives.
What's more, in the event the wider electricity grid goes down in extreme weather conditions — which are becoming longer, stronger, and more frequent as global temperatures rise — your solar panels' battery storage can keep the lights on while you ride out the storm.
But this Reddit post goes to show that solar panels are capturing the imaginations of young people, which is an extremely welcome sign for the health of our planet.
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