Increasing self-consumption in agriculture_

Beginning this year, thousands of solar power systems are no longer eligible for the “EEG subsidy” in Germany. That means, 20 year old photovoltaic systems cannot feed in to the grid with a good remuneration. With power controllers from my-PV, farmers in particular can use their surplus solar power for heat generation and continue to operate their old systems economically even without feed-in tariffs.

With the "EEG 2021", utilities will pay only four cents for each kilowatt hour of solar power fed into the grid by a "Ü20 system". With a heating price of 8 cents per kilowatt hour, it is therefore obviously worthwhile to prepare hot water with solar power, for example.

At the same time, both electricity and hot water demand in agriculture are increasing (e.g. due to increasing electrification, the rising demand for cooling and larger agricultural facilities, etc.). Or even in the case of vacation offers on the farm, the vacationers can be supplied with solar electricity.

Grid-connected solar power systems can be quickly optimized and cost-effectively converted into self-consumption systems that use surplus solar power for hot water production.

In addition to electricity and heating costs, the self-consumption system can save operating costs because woodchip stoves, which are often oversized for hot water production alone, can be completely shut down during sunny months.

The measuring transformer

analyzes the current flows and sends the information to the

power controller. The device, which can be continuously regulated between zero and nine kilowatts, then heats the water with excess solar energy.

Thanks to its three outputs, the AC•THOR 9s can heat up to three water heaters independently. This also allows larger or multiple water storage tanks to be operated. The sequence for using the PV surplus can be specified, and prioritization of the water storage tanks is possible.

"We recommend to plan even new plants directly in a way that they use as much energy as possible by themselves," suggests Dr. Gerhard Rimpler. With the free tool

, plant owners can calculate their self-consumption and amortization quickly and easily