Reference project ELWA in Portugal
ELWA in ideal setting in Portugal
The sunny beach town Melides is the perfect location to implement solar water heating with ELWA.
Facts about the project
- Client/owner/planner:
- Location:
- Construction type:
- Construction year and number of square meters:
- PV-power and orientation:
- Heat storage size:
- my-PV product in use:
How did you find my-PV?
The Portuguese house owner discovered the DC solution from my-PV at the photovoltaic trade fair Intersolar in Munich. With the use of ELWA, the owner makes the transition from a fossil-fueled hot water generation to a solar-powered one.
Obstacles/specialities during the installation
The responsible plumber had faced difficulties due to a lack of experience with photovoltaic installations, which involved initial problems with the installation of the ELWA in the tanks. The rest of the commissioning process was simple and easy.
Brief explanation of the system – what should be mentioned?
The system comprises of two tanks. One is a boiler with a volume of 400 liters and a buffer tank with a volume of 200 liters, which is used for hot water supply for the two bathrooms of the house and the guest house.
Both ELWAs are programmed according to the “stratified storage mode”. Hereby, in the first step the 400 liter boiler is heated up to a temperature of 60ºC and afterwards the 200 liter buffer tank is heated until it reaches a temperature of 65ºC. The PV system consists of 12 Panasonic modules of 235 W each, whereby two strings are connected in parallel. The distance between the PV modules and the 400 liter boiler tank is 38 meters and 25 meters distance to the 200 liter buffer tank. The first winter is over and the system worked already great during the winter months.
Persons in the household and hot water demand?
There are usually around 3 to 8 persons that are requiring hot water.
The power of the sun can also cope with the fluctuating demand – the storage tank must be dimensioned large enough to store the solar energy in sufficient quantities in the form of hot water during the day with ELWA.
Is hot water backup with mains power used?
Hot water backup of an additional 750 W (AC power) is used during the night with power from the grid, only via the AC plug of ELWA. This way, uncomplicated reheating is possible to ensure that there is enough hot water available.
Any cost changes/ROI?
The return on investment of the new system with the two ELWAs is approximately 6 years. What’s more is the fact that the hot water was previously heated with gas cylinders. The new system brings – besides the environmental aspect – a great level of convenience and a higher quality of life, as there is no longer the need to buy and transport gas cylinders.
Personal customer opinion and resumee
The owner is very satisfied with the system and concludes “The system worked well in winter as well and I think it will work even better in summer. The change from fossil fuel to a solar-based electrified water heating system is one of my contributions to climate protection and gives me a really good feeling each time I am taking a shower.“
Our reference projects
Farmhouse in Lower Saxony heats hot water with photovoltaic electricity
Despite having a battery storage system, there is still enough surplus at the farmhouse, which is used as photovoltaic heat!
Read more...Hot water from PV electricity instead of gas for football club
Using surplus photovoltaic electricity from the roof for hot water production at ATSV Neuzeug
Read more...Masonry stove and photovoltaic heat instead of a heat pump
The newly built single-family home impresses with environmentally friendly construction and innovative heating technology.
Read more...,
my-PV device trio achieves 98% PV self-consumption
By incorporating one AC ELWA 2 and two AC ELWA-E, a homeowner in Estonia achieved an impressive 98% of PV self-consumption.
Read more...A Single-Family House with system openness
Maximizing photovoltaic power in combination: This renovated house exemplifies the effectiveness of my-PV's system openness.
Read more...3 photovoltaic modules for hot water
Even a small PV system with 1.4 kWp prepares hot water in the summer with ELWA and thus saves 1 cubic meter of gas every day.
Read more...