Self-consumption
By Priya Nair · Last reviewed The share of a solar system's production that the household uses in real time rather than exporting. Self-consumed energy offsets electricity at full retail price; exported surplus earns little or nothing in most plug-in frameworks, making self-consumption the dominant economic variable after hardware cost.
Why it matters
Two identical systems can have wildly different payback because of self-consumption alone — a measured Munich system produced 900 kWh but only offset about 500. Sizing to the home's daytime baseline load, or shifting surplus with a battery, are both strategies for raising exactly this number.