– To keep your PV Plant Profitable on the long-term
The number of PV plants continuous to increase. According to current GTM Research, global photovoltaic capacity is expected to increase by 64 gigawatts in 2016. Based on current forecasts, the total PV output is expected to reach about 800 gigawatts by 2020. At the same time, self-consumption of electricity generated by photovoltaic plants is becoming increasingly important in many countries. The reason for this is that increased self-consumption provides independence from government subsidies and ensures long-term profitability for one’s PV plant.
Simple, everyday solutions are required so that PV plant owners can achieve the highest possible level of self-consumption. The EGO Smart Heater has been integrated into the Solar-LogTM energy management system since 2014. This EGO heating rod can be easily installed and integrated into existing heating systems. It is also a cost-effective solution that is operated by PV energy.
A year ago, the Hiller family (Balingen, Germany) decided to install an EGO Smart Heater with their Solar-Log 1200 to use energy from their PV power for heating in addition to the existing oil-fired furnace. The EGO Smart Heater was installed directly into the hot water boiler and storage tank. Thanks to protocol level integration, surplus power is easily used by the Smart Heater with the help of the Solar-LogTM surplus management function. This function is activated as soon as there is an energy surplus from the PV plant. Here, the Solar-LogTM periodically transmits the calculated surplus values to the Smart Heater. The Smart Heater itself determines whether and how to use this surplus power. For example, if the buffer storage has already reached its upper temperature limit, the EGO Smart Heater would not turn itself on regardless of the amount of surplus power.
