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Solar Energy

Farmer relies on solar-electric heat supply

January 10, 2025 ryansheehanrts

In a 100-year-old farmhouse in the district of Nienburg/Weser in the German state of Lower Saxony, a farmer has made himself largely independent of the electricity grid with photovoltaics and a solar-electric water heating system. This is because he uses the surplus from the photovoltaic installation on the roof to feed it into a hot water tank.

Wood chips heat the rooms

The actual heat supply for the house has been provided by a wood chip heating system for seven years. This is designed to operate in the winter months, when it provides enough energy to heat the spacious rooms of the 340 square metre farmhouse and also supplies hot water.

Special for free download: Solar power for farmers and by farmers

But for the warmer months, when the room heating is switched off, this system is far too big. To solve this problem, the farmer first installed a photovoltaic system with an output of 9.7 kilowatts. This system primarily covered the electricity consumption in the building.

Surpluses despite storage

By expanding the photovoltaic output to 14.2 kilowatts, a huge surplus of solar electricity remains after all the electrical consumers in the house have been supplied. Even with a ten-kilowatt battery storage system, the farmer is not able to consume all of the sun’s energy on site. To avoid having to feed it into the grid, he uses it to heat water.

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Heating rod covers hot water consumption

An AC Elwa-E heating rod with a power consumption of three kilowatts was installed in the hot water tank in the basement of the house. This device provides the entire hot water supply for the building from the beginning of May to the end of October, when the room heating is switched off. It uses only surplus solar power from the roof.

Support in winter

Between November and April, the wood chip heating system runs anyway to provide the room heating. During this time, the AC Elwa-E supports the hot water heating as best it can with the reduced supply of solar power. „If surplus electricity is also available in the less sunny months, this is used to support the heating system,“ explains farmer Erich Hormann. „The wood chip heating system is switched on to provide hot water when the desired temperature has not been reached by the photovoltaic power and the intelligent heating element from My PV after 4 pm. The AC Elwa-E works perfectly, regardless of whether it’s summer or winter,“ reports the farmer.

A package for an almost fully solar-powered house

65 per cent of hot water supplied by solar electricity

In the first year of operation, he was able to provide 40 cubic metres of the approximately 60 cubic metres of hot water used in the building from solar power and heating rod. This amounts to 65 per cent of the hot water requirement covered by the AC Elwa-E. As the heating rod is only used as a backup in winter, the farmer was also able to avoid having to use grid electricity to heat the water. (su)

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Solar Energy

Plus-energy houses become possible with solar facades

December 10, 2024 ryansheehanrts

The architectural firm of Rolf Disch is a pioneer in the integration of photovoltaics into buildings (BIPV). Now the latest project of the Freiburg architect has been completed: The PlusEnergy Climate Houses in Schallstadt, 100 kilometres west of Lake Constance. Only a few kilometres southwest of Freiburg im Breisgau, Rolf Disch has developed several apartment buildings in such a way that they generate more energy than they consume.

On the one hand, this is achieved because the buildings are fully geared up for minimum energy consumption. On the other hand, a great deal of photovoltaics has been integrated into the building envelope. These solar systems completely cover the buildings’ needs and actually generate a profit over the course of a year.

Surplus for mobility

A large part of this electricity harvest is not fed into the grid, but used for mobility. Everything has been done and implemented that is possible today in sustainable building and living – and that must be implemented everywhere if we are serious about combating climate change.

90 per cent of the energy stays in the house

The orientation of the building to the southwest means that solar energy can be used abundantly to warm the living spaces on cold days. On hot days, the balconies and the external sun shading provide shade so that the rooms remain cool. The compact and thermally insulated outer shell and thermally insulated glazed windows reduce the heating requirement to a minimum. Ventilation supplies the living spaces with fresh outside air. In combination with efficient heat recovery, up to 90 per cent of the energy remains in the house.

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Rolf Disch has also done a lot on the active side. The roofs and the balustrades of the balconies are equipped with photovoltaic modules. Even the roof of the carport in front of the building is covered with solar modules. In this way, the building has a solar output of 450 kilowatts. These provide about 430,000 kilowatt hours of electricity every year – more than is needed in the climate houses.

To make better use of this electricity on site, an electricity storage unit has been integrated that can shift the solar energy into the evening hours. Later, the batteries of the electric vehicles will also return stored electricity to the house.

Solar power for heating

But the solar power also covers a large part of the heating supply. Solar-powered heat pumps use the energy produced by the building. The energy source is waste heat from a sewage system, which is supplied via a cold local heating network. The heat pumps raise the temperature to the level of the underfloor heating. In summer, this can also be used for cooling. When showering, the warm water going out heats the cold water coming in. (mfo)

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Solar Energy

Homeowner in Belgium runs hot tub using the sun

December 9, 2024 ryansheehanrts

The owner of a detached house in Meulebeke, Flanders, Belgium, has reconciled several things that don’t really go together. He wanted to save money and do something good for the environment at the same time, but he also didn’t want to do without the high level of comfort and various amenities he had previously enjoyed.

Heating element installed

These comforts are not just the well-heated parlour. The homeowner also has a jacuzzi. This hot tub in front of the house in the garden needs a lot of energy to heat up the 1,500 litres of water. Previously, this had to be supplied by the existing gas heating system. This was expensive, and not just since the rising energy costs due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which have also affected the Belgians.

My PV

The heat storage is heated by a heating rod, which in turn is controlled by an AC Thor.

To save money, the homeowner looked for an alternative for himself and his family of four. In the end, he opted for a solar-electric heating and hot water system. A 200 litre hot water tank is charged directly by a heating rod. This heating element is in turn controlled by an AC Thor power controller from the Austrian manufacturer My PV.

Own solar power in the hot water

This means that the homeowner can now utilise the profits from the existing photovoltaic system on the roof. This has an output of 15 kilowatts and provides enough energy to supply the partially renovated house with heat and hot water from March to October and also to heat the water in the jacuzzi to a pleasant 37 degrees Celsius. A second power controller from My PV was installed for this purpose, which is solely responsible for the heat in the jacuzzi.

Saving energy costs

This means that the building is almost completely disconnected from the natural gas tap. The fossil fuel is now only used for cooking. The previous gas boiler still takes over the peak load in winter.

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This is noticeable on the energy bill. This is because the homeowner saves 350 euros a year compared to the prices in 2021, i.e. before the energy crisis, just for operating their hot water boiler. For the current electricity prices, he estimates that he actually saves €45 per month. What’s more, the homeowner doesn’t have to have a guilty conscience when he takes another hot bath. “In addition to the financial aspect, the relaxed feeling of complete comfort is worth mentioning, knowing that all the energy needed to heat the water in the house and in the hot tub comes from your own photovoltaic system,” emphasises the homeowner. (su/mfo)

No need to sacrifice comfort: The jacuzzi in the garden is now heated with solar power.

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