In future, Solarwatt will cooperate with the heat pump manufacturer Stiebel Eltron. With this, the Dresden-based company, which in recent years has developed from a module manufacturer to a supplier of complete systems, is also taking the last step in the full supply of buildings with solar energy. For together, the specialist partners of the two companies can offer the other component.
Raising potential in the building sector
Solarwatt already has a comprehensive package for its partners in its portfolio. From the installation of the electricity generator, which consists of in-house modules, and a storage unit from its own production, to the energy management in the building, the connection of electric mobility in cooperation with BMW and the complete service, the homeowners could get everything. "Now we are adding heat to the mix," says Detlef Neuhaus, Managing Director of Solarwatt. "We are completely implementing sector coupling with the cooperation with Stiebel Eltron, which is essential. After all, it is not possible to leverage the potential of CO2 reduction without the heat sector, which consumes the most energy in the building."
Getting out of gas heating
This potential is great. "Just by equipping all suitable single-family houses with a solar system and covering the heat generation with solar power, we can save 160 million tonnes of CO2," Neuhaus calculates. "That is 20 to 25 per cent of the total emissions in Germany that we can avoid just by changing the energy supply in single-family homes," Neuhaus emphasises. Then there are the small commercial enterprises, which Solarwatt and Stiebel Eltron also have in mind with their cooperation.
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"To achieve this, we need an orderly phase-out of heat supply with gas," adds Nicholas Matten, Managing Director of Stiebel Eltron. "Because we need to get away from energy imports from countries whose values we don't share." Here, the solar-powered heat pump is the right approach. Because with it, it is already possible today to heat every building in a climate-neutral way, Matten emphasises.
Heat pump optimised for solar power supply
With this new cooperation, Solarwatt sees itself as a pioneer of a new energy world. Until now, there has hardly been a company that can offer such a comprehensive complete package from a single source. However, the two companies are entering into a development cooperation. This means that in future the heat pump will be optimally controlled according to consumption. For this purpose, Solarwatt links Stiebel Eltron's thermal energy management to its own building energy management. The Stiebel Eltron thermal management system takes over the function of supplying heat to where it is needed in the building. The electricity supply comes from the building's energy management system. This, in turn, is coordinated to ensure that as much solar power as possible flows into heat production as well as into electric mobility and the other consumers in the house, and includes any storage unit that may be present.
Training specialist partners
In the next step, the two companies will each train their specialist partners. Solarwatt's partners will be instructed in the connection of the heat pump and Stiebel Eltron's partners will be taught how to design and install solar systems. In this way, it should be possible to install more complete packages in the same time, also with a view to the skilled labour situation. "Because the future of the energy world is an electric one and we are happy if this electricity is generated in a climate-neutral way. That's why photovoltaics is a key lever for the future," says Matten, describing the advantage of the cooperation. "We need to transform our electricity and heat economy into new era." (su/mfo)
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