Photovoltaic heat during the gas crisis

The year 2022 arrived, and simultaneously the gas crisis in Europe and skyrocketing gas prices. This prompted a homeowner in Münsterland to retrofit their semi-detached house, which dates back to the 1990s, with photovoltaic heat.

The gas condensing boiler primarily heats a hot water storage tank, with the assistance of photovoltaics in water heating. Sustainability and cost-efficiency were the main objectives here, along with concerns regarding rising gas prices. Consequently, the goal was to use electricity from a newly planned PV system to generate hot water – initially as support for the gas boiler to reduce gas consumption.

In the semi-detached house, inhabited by two people, an AC•THOR controls hot water production smoothly, depending on the photovoltaic yield. The device only converts the surplus electricity, that would otherwise be unused and fed back into the public grid, into heat. This means that hot water production is completely managed by the sun and the intelligent photovoltaic power manager, the AC•THOR, for many months of the year. During the less productive winter months, the AC•THOR remains active and supports the gas condensing boiler to save money and minimize ecological impact.

The initial experiences and data regarding profitability?

"My expectations have been exceeded! Since I had no knowledge of control systems when planning the electric heating, and I thought I'd have to intervene manually a lot, I'm thrilled with the automatic adjustment of the heating power to the PV production (surplus utilization)," says owner Rainer Köppen.

Rainer Köppen also did a detailed cost analysis. What are his results? You can read about it in the complete reference description.

Click here to read the detailed reference description.