Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to the most common questions about our services.

How do I know how much power my appliances use?

Many inverters/energy management systems and smart meters give live consumption per moment (kW) and total consumption (kWh). For individual appliances, you can use a plug-in energy meter to measure what something actually consumes. This helps tremendously when planning for backup power: you can see which devices are "base load" and which devices are draining your battery in short order.

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Monitoring means using an app or portal to track in real time how much power you are generating, consuming or charging. This gives you insight into performance, you quickly spot possible malfunctions and you manage your energy consumption smarter. At SunCharged, we often actively watch your system to resolve malfunctions or install updates. We can also perform an analysis to determine when and which battery capacity best suits your energy needs.

Optimization means using smart systems to consume or store energy at the best moment—for example, charging when the sun is shining or electricity prices are low, saving you money and reducing grid pressure.

This is only possible with a very large installation (lots of PV + lots of storage) and tight energy discipline. In the Netherlands the seasonal differences are large: in summer off-grid is technically more feasible, but in winter there is often too little sun and heat demand is high. Without an additional source (e.g., aggregate), it is therefore difficult to live completely off-grid year-round. For most households, "emergency power for essential groups" is a more realistic goal.

Yes. We design customized solutions: from compact emergency power (critical loads) to full home backup. In doing so, we look at your goals (what do you want to continue using and for how long), the inverter power needed, battery capacity and whether you want solar panels to run with you during an outage (grid-forming/backup configuration). Based on this, we create a design that is technically safe (switching/shielding) and practically appropriate for your home.

An EMS is a smart power plant that controls your energy consumption, energy production such as that from solar panels, and energy storage such as a home battery. Ideally, you also want to be able to use this to control as many household smart appliances as possible. The EMS ensures that everything is done as efficiently and inexpensively as possible, often fully automatically.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know how much power my appliances use?

You may also be interested in these questions:

What does monitoring of the charging station or solar panels involve after installation?

What does optimizing energy usage mean?

Can you live completely off-grid with a home battery?

How do I know how much power my appliances use?

Can Suncharged design a system for emergency situations?

What is an energy management system (EMS)?