Greater Choices for the Energy Saving Now

Through the Energy Compensation System, excess production is sold to the utility in exchange for credits, which in turn are consumed when energy expenditure is higher than production, such as on cloudy days or at night. Thanks to this, a well-sized generation property will hardly buy energy, paying the utility only the availability value. These credits are estimated to exceed the cost of installation by about 8 years thereafter, although this time may vary. After this period, the user leaves in profit. With the Houston Energy Rates this is important now.

Environmental

Large power plants of any kind cause major unwanted impacts on the ecosystem, as discussed in our article on energy efficiency. Meanwhile, cleanly manufactured solar panels can be recycled once their validity about 20 years expires. Increasing its use automatically implies reducing the demand of large plants, contributing to a more sustainable energy matrix.

Greater autonomy

During the 2014 drought, low levels in reservoirs of hydroelectric plants forced utilities to ration energy use. There was an increase in fees and the adoption of the flag system, which varies the price of energy according to a number of factors, such as time of day, reservoir level at the time of consumption, among others. Users experienced ups and downs in their energy bills, which became extremely unpredictable. During what was termed as an energy crisis, distributed generation real estate felt little difference in their electricity bill, as their consumption depended very little on the plants.

Property appreciation

A property with installed distributed generation draws more attention of brokers and potential buyers. Its value increases by about 5%, which far exceeds the cost of installation. Despite the appreciation, stakeholders are more likely to actually close deals, given the opportunity to “never pay the energy bill again”.

We know that Daylight Saving Time is the practice of advancing the clock by one hour to harness the light in the early evening. This practice is adopted in several places in Brazil and receives both praise and criticism from different segments of society.

However, what many people do not know is the reduction in energy consumption that this resource can generate, and consequently savings in our pockets.

How does this happen?

The hours of a day without “daylight saving time” have a more or less defined curve of energy consumption. During the night, for example, because we are sleeping, several electrical appliances are turned off, providing a reduction in electricity generation. On the other hand, between 18h and 21h, the consumption of electricity is quite high, precisely because they are operating not only factories and public lighting systems, but several residential appliances.

Imagine how many people arrive from work or school or college at 6 pm and turn on, for example, television, computer and electric shower.

For this reason, this time range from 6 pm to 9 pm is called “Peak Time” or “Rush Hour”. It is in this interval that the demand for electricity generation is most intensified. Demand is so high that hydroelectric power plants often cannot supply themselves.

How is this problem solved?

• Thermoelectric plants, which burn fossil fuels such as oil and gas, are started.

The problem is that the cost of producing energy from this method is higher, making our electricity bills even more expensive and polluting the environment.