Solar energy: photovoltaic experience report | Alex Garden

Photovoltaics is on everyone’s lips. THE Electricity from solar energy it is not only environmentally friendly and sustainable, but also really cheap compared to electricity from the energy supplier! Our customer Oliver Pyka shared with us his report on his experience in photovoltaics.

Photovoltaic experience report with a Rötzer brick house

«It was December when we moved into our Rötzer house. It happened very quickly because we only started planning in March or April of the same year and the groundbreaking ceremony took place in August. But maybe we were too quick in some things or didn’t delve into some things. We actually planned to install an oil heater at the time, but our Rötzer building expert advised us against it. So we decided to install a heat pump to provide long-term, energy-efficient and affordable heat stable. our home. In relation to oil heating we have also thought about photovoltaics. Unfortunately with the heat pump we have neglected this aspect. Also because a photovoltaic system would have required a further investment of 30,000 euros. It’s a shame, as it turned out later…»

Cozy and warm: Experience our heat pump without photovoltaics in the first winter

«The first winter with the heat pump convinced us. It’s amazing how efficient this technology is – basically from electricity (officially CO₂ neutral) and air to generate heat. I’m writing these lines now, after a year spent in our house – it’s the second winter – but something is different. Since the end of August we have had 9.9 KWpeek on the roof. Why is there still this technology on the roof? We wanted emergency electricity for our house because we depend on it a lot and we were afraid that if there was a power outage our house would be completely without power. We initially wanted to buy a diesel generator for this purpose, but the course of the year took us away from traditional combustion completely. This is how we came up with the idea of ​​generating our own electricity through solar energy.”

Our photovoltaicExperience with retrofitting

“Thanks to a specialized company from Osnabrück, our wish was fulfilled the smallest space in just a Device A photovoltaic system will be installed in our finished Rötzer brick house. Despite the large implementation of the retrofitting, it would have made sense to consider the photovoltaic system “before construction”, because then the subsequent installation would have been much simpler. Unnecessary additional costs, such as a second scaffolding and some electrical modifications, could certainly have been avoided if the possibility of upgrading the PV had already been thought of.»

Photovoltaic on our roof: this is how the retrofit worked for us

“We built on a slab, which means it was a so-called Multi-sector introduction necessary. This has three outlets for us (electricity, telephone, water). This part is also available with four or even five “introductions” and the additional costs are less than 200 euros. Why is this important? Well, if you connect the 33 modules from the roof, as in our case, to the power plant of the house in the storage room, then you have to go through the wall. It’s a shame, we now have a hole drilled in the insulation and bricks just for this cable. Everyone has to decide for themselves whether they want to run the PV cable through the roof of the house to the storage room – I just want to keep in mind that these very thick cables carry a voltage of well 1000V. Supposedly there are people who want to avoid unnecessary electrical wires in their home. Additionally, our installation company recommended installing it on the outside of the house.”

Connecting the photovoltaic system to the home electricity grid was not a problem

«Our building expert Rötzer recommended the heat pump with two electricity meters. The advantage was that we could do it Ready interface could now connect to the home power plant via this control line. What is it? If there is «so much sun» in the summer that the batteries are already charged and we would like to feed the excess into the grid, the heat pump is given the signal to use the electricity immediately. Of course, in summer it won’t be used for heating, but you can simply use hot water»free» can be increased by five or ten degrees. Oh yes, we returned the second meter to the supplier when we installed the system. Instead we received one Power meter install it only for the heat pump. This means we know exactly how much electricity, heat and hot water – in our case also cooling – really require.”

Storing solar energy instead of selling it: does it make sense?

“Why is it an advantage to store electricity or rather use more of it rather than buying it back later? In short, it costs less! We get just over 11 ct for the sale. If we buy electricity, it’s about 25 cents. Of course we still have to pay VAT on our electricity, because we activated the system as an investment with input tax deduction. We were lucky. Thanks to the compact design of our home power station (1m x 1m x 42cm), it fits perfectly in our electrical box. But this could have been planned differentlyif only I had known beforehand. The decision to use a hipped roof would have been the subject of discussion even if the use of a photovoltaic system had been envisaged. A pitched roof would have many more modules facing south, now we have modules facing west, south and east. The inclination is also noticeable in winter, when the sun is low, because the modules are not hit optimally.”

Our personal photovoltaic experience report:

«We and our family of four only received 4 KW of electricity from our supplier in September – what fun! Even on a December day, due to a sunny day, we were 100% self-sufficient until 9.30pm. It’s fun to harness the sun’s energy, and it’s definitely worth considering this investment in detail when building a home. That the decision is made immediately afterwards is one thing. But of course you can plan the appropriate preparation from the beginning.”