He builds his solar power plant without calling in a specialist

In just a few days, this individual put his own solar power plant into operation, which will cover more than half of his electricity needs. If the operation requires some knowledge, building your own photovoltaic system is a considerable economical solution. Transcript.

Who said that installing a solar power plant at home is a long and tedious process? Audren Van Zalk built her small photovoltaic park in a small town in the Lot department in a few days.

“I needed a long weekend for the wooden construction and a weekend for the assembly of the panels”explains this person who has been in the construction industry for twenty years.

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Power generation in the face of rising prices

In his outdoor garden he installed a photovoltaic system with an output of 3.2 kWp (limited to 3 kWp by the inverter “to comply with the Enedis agreement”) Self-consumption with free feed-in. The 8 panels with 400 Wc rest on a thick wooden structure that he also designed and built on his own. An approach he details in his accounts Twitter and baptized YouTube “Zero Carbon Goal”.

“Since I was 15 I’ve wanted to get into renewable energy at home, but I lived in the city” declares the one who describes himself as ” Do-it-yourself fanatic ». Faced with rising energy prices and prevent “Tariff cap [qui] jumps 2024″he decided to accept the technical challenge.

Take care !

Don’t forget to turn off the wifi, huh pic.twitter.com/adzuZOkThv

— ObjectifZeroCarbone (or almost…) (@ObjectifZero) July 22, 2022

Installing your own power plant costs half as much

“I had a basic knowledge of electricity, but I had to check all photovoltaic-specific standards”, he explains. Audren then orders these past technical readings €2,200 equipment (panels, 5kW inverter and AC/DC boxes, delivery included), plus €250 wood for the structure, €150 underground cable and €100 hardware, So a total of €2,700.

Quite a small sum considering the power of the plant. At €844/kWp the do-it-yourselfer saved a lot for his turnkey photovoltaic system, whereas a system from a professional costs between 1,500 and 3,000 €/kWp.

An electric car instead of a household battery

If he does not use it immediately, the solar power produced by Audren is fed into the public grid free of charge. A choice that allows himsometimes avoid lengthy administrative procedures. In fact, in order to be paid for its surpluses, it is mandatory to have its installation approved by the Consuel and to meet certain very strict technical conditions.

The installation, presented on the @ObjectifZero Twitter account

To optimize the profitability of its power plant, Lotois could have opted for a domestic battery. The latter makes it possible to store energy for needs-based use day and night and in any weather.

The solution was not chosen for a good reason. “I didn’t install a battery because my electric car [une Renault Zoé 22 kWh, NDLR] absorbs a large part of the production” he justifies. His vehicle is therefore charged by excess production that would otherwise have been fed into the public grid. ” A battery would have doubled the price of the installation, which would have greatly increased the return on investment” he explains on Twitter.

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Manual load shedding while waiting for automation

“I also have an electric water heater and am in the process of installing an air-to-air heat pump” adds Audrey. The distribution of the loads from the solar power plant to these devices is currently done manually via connected sockets.

“If I know that the weather is going to be nice, I see a peak or the inverter sends too much into the grid, I trigger manually.” he explains. However, he plans toInstall load deflector in the future, which will allow these operations to be performed automatically.

The Solar Power Plant Management Interface / Twitter @ObjectifZero

Head southwest to adjust production to meet needs

Unlike most solar power plants, Audrens does not face south. “I decided to head a little further west because I need more energy in the evenings. I have optimized for use », he says. This positioning makes it possible to boost production at the end of the day by granting an extension of the power surge in the morning.

He wants to generate around 3,200 kWh of photovoltaic electricity annually. A production mainly consumed by his Renault Zoé, which draws 2,000 kWh per year. The rest, i.e. 1,200 kWh, could enable Audren and her small family cover around 25% of their needs of electricity (11 MWh annual consumption). A rate that will increase to around 50% when the heat pump and the system are controlled, the consumption of homes will actually drop to 6 MWh per year.

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A profitable investment in just a few years

200 years old, his natural stone house with 90 m² of living space and his three residents are heated by a wood stove and a heat pump reversible, which will soon replace radiators “Toaster”. “Everything is electric at home, I hardly use any hydrocarbons anymore”, he boasts.

His electricity bill is currently an average of 200 euros per month. Audren says she can Save 450 € per year thanks to photovoltaic production. His solar power plant should therefore theoretically pay for itself in about 5 years, not including the costs of construction, because that’s what it is “a woodshed that is indispensable for me » he explains.

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[Article mis à jour le 05/08/22 avec les précisions du propriétaire sur le temps de retour sur investissement]