Spanish heating specialist Elnur Gabarron has developed a new solar-powered residential heating concept based on the use of storage heaters.
“Our storage heaters are specially designed to work on grid-connected PV installations, using surplus power to produce sustainable heating,” a company spokesperson told pv magazine.
The company offers the heaters along with its patented Solar Manager technology, which can purportedly detect solar power surpluses in real time.
“The whole package is compatible with any grid-connected photovoltaic array,” the spokesperson said. “The heaters can be configured to operate exclusively for the utilization of the surplus PV electricity and, if needed, it will top up the load of the equipment using the off-peak hours to provide heating during the set comfort hours.”
The company offers two different storage heater products. The first device, Ecombi SOLAR, can provide a constant release of heat during the day. It is available in four versions, with power outputs ranging from 975 W to 2.6 kW, and storage capacities from 7.8 kWh to 20.8 kWh. All the models have a charging time of eight hours and Class I insulation. The weight is between 61 kg and 148 kg and the maximum size reaches 111 cm x 73 cm x 18 cm.
The second system, Ecombi ARC, is available in three versions with outputs of 1.6 kW, 2.4 kW, and 3.2 kW, and a storage capacities of 12.8 kW, 19.2 kW, and 25.6 kW. The charging time is eight hours for all devices and the insulation is also Class I level.
“This product offers heat by natural transfer at the desired hour through a fan,” the spokesperson said. “It can adapt the power to the available surpluses.”
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The products can work as backup systems or as main household heating systems.
“In the first case, the storage heaters use only a part of the available solar power surplus and help reduce the consumption of the primary heating system,” the spokesperson said. “In the second case, the devices store all available surplus in the form of heat and use grid electricity only to complete the necessary load and provide the required comfort.”
Elnur Gabarron said that its system is compatible with all PV installations and inverters on the market.
“We usually work both with external installers specialized in the installation of residential PV systems, as well as installers of electric heating,” said the spokesperson.
The company claims the system is ideal for households with high power consumption profiles.
“The storage heaters are designed for people that spend a lot of time at home, such as the elderly or people who work remotely from home,” the spokesperson said. “The investment varies depending on the number of heaters. The Ecombi SOLAR costs €455 ($475) plus added-value tax (VAT) and the Ecombi ARC €851 plus VAT.”
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This is not a high efficiency use of excedents. Using a resistance and a set of ceramic blocks (or whatever) to store the energy (inefficiently, COP of a resistance is 1, and nothing new, it’s an “acumulador/radiator” which has been around longer than I have lived which has got attached a surplus energy manager which have been around for many years as well). With a COP of 1 surplus compensation or “virtual battery” offered by some grid operators is much better. This kind of controller using a Heat-pump would be a better use of the surplus (which remember, it is not free, you already paid for it in advance!).
This article should have been more polished explaining how it works instead of quoting the seller which sadly makes this article read like and advertisement.
I have read better.
Very useful information.
Thanks for sharing this.
Aziz