Integrated manufacturing of REciclable multi-material COmposites for the TRANSport sector
Novel linear power control unit for use of photovoltaic for generation of hot water and space heating
An Austrian manufacturer developed grid-conform, compact, linear power control units for efficient use of heat gained by photovoltaic panels (PV) in residential buildings. The control unit balances the fluctuating energy input (PV-panels or inverter system) and energy consumption without power-steps. It is an open system that can easily be combined with all kind of smart home controllers, batteries and inverters. The company is looking for commercial- and technical cooperation agreement.
Partnership(s) sought- Commercial agreement with technical assistance Technical cooperation agreement
An Austrian manufacturer developed novel systems for efficient use of heat gained by photovoltaic panels (PV) in residential- or apartment buildings. With this system, customers are enabled to generate hot water and to heat rooms in a very easy way. The energy gained by PV can be exploited ideally by the smart combination of electrical and thermal use. The Austrian company has an extensive knowledge in the field of PV and anticipated the rapid development of PV panels. Consequently it is now one of the very first companies with smart solutions to efficiently combine electric and thermal use of PV energy in smart buildings.
The system offers an advantageous alternative to state of the art solar thermal energy collector systems which are usually installed on the roof where a liquid is heated up in the solar collector. Subsequently the heat is transferred to a warm water tank for further use. This transfer is facilitated via pipes and a heat exchanger. The installation and maintenance efforts of such systems are high (pipes, antifreeze protection, high stagnation temperatures in pipes, circulation pumps, valves, insulation, heat exchanger...) and the efficiency of solar thermal energy collectors decreases radically with decreasing outside temperatures and irradiation. Furthermore these systems cause high start-up losses when starting up the heating process and high losses by pumping the heated liquid in ring mains.
The novel system uses photovoltaic panels instead of thermal energy collectors. Hence, cables are installed instead of pipes, valves and pumps. By this only minimal installation efforts are needed in specific in case of building refurbishments. The energy gained by PV panels is primarily used to run current electricity consumers and excess energy can be stored in domestic storage batteries (typically 5 kWh). Further excess energy can be stored in hotwater tanks (15 kWh in a 300 litre boiler) and in concrete floor (25 kWh in 120 m² concrete floor).
To run such a system efficiently the fluctuating energy input (PV-panels) and the fluctuating energy consumption has to be balanced steadily. A key feature of the novel technology is the linear power control without any power-steps that has nothing to do with conventional on/off systems that never can adjust perfectly to fluctuating PV power. The flexibility of the linear power control unit enables operation on-grid and off-grid (e.g. with an own furnace). When grid connected the linear power unit optimizes avoidance of energy purchase form the public grid as well as feed-in. The control unit itself costs approximately 624 ? (RRT) and is an open system that can easily be combined with a large number of smart home controllers, batteries and inverters.
Application fields:
- Affordable housing in novel high isolation standard single-family houses and apartment buildings
- Retrofitting in the framework of building refurbishments
- Combination of PV with smart home applications
Certified according to EN standards.
Partner sought:
- Partners and partnership networks such as wholesalers, installers housing cooperatives, architects or planners to add this technology into their portfolio (commercial agreement with technical assistance).
- Partners for generation of novel applications (e.g. smart home applications) for the offered technology (technical cooperation agreement)
- Specific area of activity of the partner: The company is looking for system partners and partnership networks such as wholesalers, installers, housing cooperatives, architects or planners to add this technology into their portfolio. In this sense, a commercial agreement with technical assistance is sought.
Cooperation partners are invited to generate novel applications (e.g. smart home applications) for the offered technology. In this sense a technical cooperation agreement ist sought.
The Austrian company will provide the expertise needed as well as access needed to implement e.g. smart home solutions.
The main advantages of the linear power control unit offered by the Austrian company are:
1) Open System (network interface) -> compatible with different inverters, battery systems and smart-homes
2) Grid conformity (pure sine wave, no thyristors) -> grid connection enabled
3) No material wear out -> 20 years performance warranty
4) Compact Design - 10 times smaller than competing products with a comparable power
5) Simple usability
The main advantages in comparison to state of the art systems (thermal energy collectors) are:
1) Cables instead of pipes -> Significant cost reduction, lower installation work (in specific during retrofitting), maintenance free, 90 % less valuable copper used, no antifreeze protection, no boiling collectors when water flow is stagnating, no need for expensive heat resistant special parts (just cables), starting up the heating process, no heat exchanger, no pumps (no stand-by consumption)
2) High efficiency at decreasing outside temperatures -> high solar coverage in winter
3) High solar coverage under lowest solar irradiation conditions -> high solar coverage in winter
4) Photovoltaics is developing rapidly with repeated new records in efficiency %26 pricing -> increasing efficiency with decreasing costs
5) The actual temperature level of hot water in the boiler does not matter -> No loss of efficiency at high water temperatures in boilers
6) No start-up losses -> No energy losses to heat up the system itself
7) No ring main losses -> No energy losses during heat transport in buildings, heat is produced exactly where it is needed.
8) Much smaller utility room needed
Already on the market
IPR:Secret Know-how,Patents granted - Different functional details of the control units are patented in different countries.
Clasificado como: Energía
» Reference: TOAT20180726001
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement Nº 768737
