Heating With Solar Power at No Cost

Do your energy costs take up big chunks of your household budget despite home appliances with the highest energy efficiency class? Then it is worth taking a closer look at the thermal loads of heating and hot water. With up to 70 percent, they actually account for the majority of your energy needs. The solution for countering these high heating costs is to provide a heat pump with clean solar power generated directly on your own roof.

Depending on location, season and demand, the thermal loads of heating and hot water account for up to 70 percent of energy costs. The cost for each cubic meter of heating water varies considerably depending on the fuel used.

On the other hand, you get your service water at almost no cost if you heat the water via a heat pump and immersion water heater with self-generated electricity from the roof-mounted PV system. This way, you increase the self-consumption of your self-generated solar energy and save on heating costs while protecting the environment.

This is how no-cost heating works

To heat energy- and cost-efficiently, you need a PV system, a heat pump with a buffer tank and the Sunny Home Manager 2.0 (see info box). The energy manager controls the system automatically in such a way that the heat pump preferably draws energy when the sun is shining. The buffer tank stores keeps the heat for the evening and nighttime hours so that you need much less power from the grid.

At the end of May the Sunny Home Manager 2.0 received an additional interface for heat pumps – The manufacturer-independent and globally open communications interface EEBUS HVAC. With firmware update 2.2.9 it is now possible to integrate heat pumps from Vaillant, a top player in the market for heat pumps and heating solutions in general, into the intelligent energy management.

The update will be automatically installed on all Sunny Home Manager 2.0. EEBUS (see info box) is gaining a lot of traction so expect to see more manufacturers announce support for EEBUS soon and remember that the Sunny Home Manager 2.0 already supports heat pumps from Stiebel-Eltron and Tecalor, as well as immersion water heaters from my-PV.

SMA and Audi are cooperating to integrate e-mobility into home energy management

Use sunshine to charge your vehicle 

Speaking of efficient: In Germany, every other PV system is now equipped with a battery storage system. This allows solar energy to be used after sunset or in case of a blackout. A battery storage system is also a particularly sustainable way to charge an electric vehicle with solar power as needed and again the Sunny Home Manager 2.0 has you covered.

With a suitable charging station, you can charge your electric vehicle with your own solar power and without conventional energy from the utility grid, thanks to the intelligent energy management of the Sunny Home Manager 2.0. This is as cost-effective and environmentally friendly as it gets.

E-mobility is an important milestone for the energy transition. The transport sector in particular can make a significant contribution to reducing harmful gases such as CO₂ in addition to urban particulate matter, nitrogen oxide and noise pollution. Anyone who charges their vehicle with their own solar power also relieves the utility grids and helps avoid the expensive expansion of the power grid.

As part of the EEBUS initiative, SMA is collaborating with vehicle and charging station manufacturers. The manufacturer-independent and open interface ensures optimum cooperation between energy managers, charging stations and electric vehicles.

Join the clean energy transition

For everyone who wants to go one step further: the IoT platform for energy management ennexOS will connect all relevant generators and loads in the future and integrate both electrical and thermal components on one platform.

Heating, cooling, relevant household loads, PV systems with or without a storage system and e-mobility can then be controlled in such a way that the energy supply is most efficient and cost-effective. Needless to say, the Sunny Home Manager 2.0 is ennexOS-ready.

This has many advantages:

• Ecological energy supply with carbon footprint information
• Reliable, low-cost energy for a lifetime (contributing to retirement planning)
• Independence from electric utility companies thanks to self-generation of electricity and heating energy
• Additional revenue thanks to optimized marketing of unused residual electricity
• Access to energy data online at any time—with mobile devices or computers

Conclusion

Those who supply their household with their own solar power and also include heating in the intelligent energy management become independent from rising costs and electric utility companies. Uniform communication interfaces such as EEBUS enable efficient energy management in the household. And the loT platform for intelligent energy management ennexOS will combine heating, climate control, electricity and mobility in an efficient complete system.

This optimizes the energy flows and reduces the energy costs sustainably. At the same time, a decentralized regenerative energy supply relieves the low-voltage grids and avoids expensive grid expansion. With your personal energy transition at home, you make the worldwide energy transition possible.

Do you want to know whether a PV system would be worth the investment? You can simulate your own system in three steps with Sunny Places.

As the control center for intelligent energy management, the Sunny Home Manager 2.0 analyzes all energy flows in the household, detects potential savings and and optimizes accordingly, thus enabling a more efficient use of the household’s energy. Via the online portal Sunny Portal, you can view exactly which device consumes how much energy when.

The uniform communication standard EEBUS links all controllable home appliances with Sunny Home Manager 2.0 and the PV system so that they run automatically when the PV system supplies electricity or the electricity price is low at that moment.

By means of Internet-based weather forecasts and individual adjustments to the local conditions, the energy manager precisely forecasts the solar irradiation for the entire day. Your laundry is then done by solar power virtually at no cost. Only the water needs to be paid.

EEBUS for the smart home: Intelligent household networking

The international and open communication standard EEBUS automatically ensures the most efficient use of your self-generated solar energy in the household. The manufacturer-independent and open interface ensures optimum cooperation between energy managers, home appliances, charging stations and electric vehicles.

EEBUS is already available with the Sunny Home Manager 2.0 and compatible household appliances from Bosch Siemens as well as heat pumps from Vaillant. As part of the EEBUS initiative, SMA is also collaborating with vehicle and charging station manufacturers. This will make your household fit for the future.

• Efficient energy use for all connected appliances
• Lower energy costs
• Maximum self-consumption
• Gain more independence from energy suppliers