Solar Power Diverter
Heating the home with free energy from the sun is often desired but rarely attempted due to the high costs of the systems. In the past, those that have attempted it are often let down by New Zealand’s low standard of insulation for homes.
It is now cost effective to heat your well insulated home with Solar Power thanks to a new product from Austrian Company MY-PV, the ACTHOR. The ACTHOR takes excess solar power that would have been exported to the power company and uses it to heat electric mats under the tiles or carpet.
Traditionally, electric underfloor heating running solely from grid power is very expensive to run so the majority of underfloor heating in New Zealand has been achieved by circulating warm water in pipes in the concrete heated by gas or a heat pump. These systems are expensive to install and while heat pump systems are generally cheaper than gas heated systems, they still have a reasonable running cost.
With the ACTHOR system, the installation cost and the running cost can be as much as 30% lower than a heat pump powered hydronic system. While you still get the odd time during the year that solar power alone isn’t enough to keep the home warm, drawing grid power during these occasional times still works out more cost effective than running a heat pump for the heating season. The maintenance costs of a solar electric heating system are non-existent compared to a hydronic system that has lots of moving parts which require servicing and replacement over time.
These systems are installed successfully in Austria and Europe where there is less solar energy available than New Zealand’s climate so better results can be expected here.
Note: This system is only suitable for well insulated homes. Homes build to New Zealand’s historical Minimum Standard require 150kw-200kw/m2 per year to heat. These systems are suited to homes that require 50kw/m2 or less per year to heat. Use the PY-PV Power Coach to see if your project is suitable for a Solar Electric Heating System https://www.my-pv.com/en/principle/my-pv-power-coach
- CategoryUnderfloor Heating, Solar Heating, Solar Panels
- RangeSolar Power Systems
About the
Seller
Sunz Solar Energy Specialists was formed in 2000 to offer clients energy-efficient renewable energy solutions. Energy costs are rising and have been doing so for many years. The hydro lakes always seem to be in some state of emptiness, there’s no new oil and gas exploration allowed, and New Zealand imports coal from Australia just to keep our lights on.
In the early days, solar water heating was the only real financially viable renewable technology so most of Sunz systems we built around highly efficient solar water heating products from Europe and the USA. Technical improvements and cost reductions in solar power and battery products over the last 10 years have these systems now not only financially viable for most New Zealand households and business, but actually the preferred option.
Energy costs are rising and have been doing so for many years. The hydro lakes always seem to be in some state of emptiness, there’s no new oil and gas exploration allowed, and New Zealand imports coal from Australia just to keep our lights on.
Sunz expertise is in offering energy-efficient solutions tailored to the clients’ requirements. We assess what the client wants to achieve and provide an integrated solution to meet that requirement, often combining multiple energy sources and technologies in our systems. While our systems are primarily renewable energy-based, we can integrate with almost any other energy source, grid power, gas, diesel, heat pump, wood, or waste process heat.
So whether it's providing electricity to power your home or business, or heating your home, your domestic hot water, swimming pool, or spa, we can offer a solution for you.
- ArchiPro Member since2021
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