How do I find the right my-PV product?

Photovoltaic energy is valuable! This is a strong argument, especially in these times, when sharply rising electricity costs are putting pressure on the household budget. This raises the question of what you get for the photovoltaic electricity that you do not need and would feed into the public power grid (in the case of a grid-connected solution).

It should be considered whether it makes more sense to use the photovoltaic electricity for heating purposes (hot water and/or heating) instead of selling it to the electricity provider for a few cents per kilowatt hour. The cost of the heating system used for heat generation (hot water and/or heating), is often times higher than the feed-in tariffs per kilowatt hour, due to the increasing prices.

This is how you get more out of the photovoltaic system

If your own photovoltaic energy is to be used in the household for heating purposes, the first question that arises is whether a heating element is already installed in the water or buffer storage tank. The only requirement is that it can be linearly controlled so that it is suitable for photovoltaics (keyword fluctuating surpluses).

In the case of a suitable heating element, our AC•THOR is the right product for standard applications and the AC•THOR 9s for bigger ones. These two products can also communicate with heating elements that are already installed – we also like to use products here that are already installed.

If there is no heating element or no suitable heating element installed in the household, our AC ELWA 2 is the ideal solution. The product, which will be launched in May 2023, offers the possibility of generating photovoltaic heat easily in a single device – i.e. heating element and electronics in one solution.

In both cases, photovoltaic energy is used for heating purposes and also for other applications such as household consumers, battery storage charging or for electromobility, with a grid-connected photovoltaic system.

Moreover, the information on how much PV surplus is available for heat generation needs to be captured. This is recorded by a measurement at the house connection. Either the my-PV WiFi Meter can be used to detect the surplus information, or a device from one of our many compatible partners.

Off-grid application for self-sufficiency

Our ELWA offers another application for all those applications that aim for simple retrofitting or cost-optimized use of solar power without an inverter. A few photovoltaic modules on the roof are sufficient, to supply the direct current, which is then converted into hot water by the ELWA. The PV electricity is used purely for heating purposes and not for home consumers (light, electrical appliances, etc.).

If you are interested in finding the perfect my-PV product for your home, have a look at our my-PV product finder