# Self-Consumption

The share of the energy a PV system generates that is used on site rather than exported to the grid. It is the metric that most directly drives the economics of a residential installation, because avoided imports are usually worth more than exported units.

Source: https://inverterdata.com/en/glossary/self-consumption/
Site: InverterData (inverterdata.com) — open technical specification database
Last updated: 2026-08-24
License: free to quote with attribution to inverterdata.com

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Raising self-consumption is a matter of matching generation to demand: shifting flexible loads such as water heating, dishwashers and vehicle charging into the middle of the day, and storing what is left over in a battery. A typical household without storage or load shifting consumes only a minority of its own production, since peak generation happens while the house is empty. Note the distinction from self-sufficiency, which measures the opposite direction — the share of household demand covered by solar. A system can score well on one and poorly on the other.