Type solution for Energy Management - Control4Energy, family house in Zlín
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Reference
In 2015, a family house was built by the investor on the outskirts of Zlín, on which a domestic photovoltaic power plant with an output of 8 kW was installed in 2018. 19 PV panels with an output of 6 kW are oriented to the east and 6 PV panels with an output of 2 kW are oriented to the west. The power plant was supplemented with a Schneider Conext inverter and BYD batteries with a capacity of 12 kWh.
The house has a usable area of 240 m2 and a total of 6 living rooms. A young family with two children lives in it.
It is equipped with the following technologies:
- Heating - gas boiler with underfloor water heating on the ground floor and radiators upstairs, complete with fireplace with water exchanger connected to the water heating circuit with storage tank for 1000 l, connected to the boiler 200 l. When the temperature of the water in the storage tank rises above the DHW temperature (in the boiler), the DHW is reheated. Furthermore, an electric spiral with an output of 4.5 kW is installed in the storage tank to store surpluses from the PV plant.
- Boiler 200 l for DHW - heated by gas boiler and storage tank.
The inhabitants of the house are mostly out on weekdays during the day. The house is heated in winter by a gas boiler and on weekends mainly by a fireplace. The average consumption of hardwood in the winter season is around 6 m3.
Prior to the installation of the domestic PV plant, the annual gas consumption was 8,500 kWh and electricity consumpiton 4,700 kWh. In 2018, a domestic PV plant with the above parameters was installed on the house. The purchase price was CZK 350,000 and no subsidies were used for it.
The disadvantage of domestic PV plants is the fact that it produces energy mainly from spring to autumn from sunlight during the day. During this time, the consumption in the house is however very low. Therefore, it is necessary to accumulate this energy somewhere for later use. If this does not happen, there is an overflow of unused energy into the distribution network. It means energy supplies from a domestic PV plant to an energy supplier who paid a minimum price for it. When the house's energy consumption increases (especially in the morning and evening), the owners have to buy electricity to cover the actual need at the market price. Therefore, the return on investment of domestic PV plants is relatively long.
However, this will change completely when using a surplus management system and prioritizing energy consumption. An interesting solution created by Automation Solutions s.r.o. is the standard Plug & Play solution Control4Energy. It includes our Tecomat Foxtrot CP-2091 control unit. For a fraction of the price of the entire PV plant, it will eliminate the above-mentioned shortcomings, significantly increase the efficiency of the operation of the domestic PV plant and thus significantly speed up the return on the entire investment.
The Control4Energy type solution with the CP-2091 unit directly contains all outputs that allow the control of technologies in a normal household, ie typically a boiler, electric heating, heat pump, domestic batteries and other electrical loads. At the same time, it can communicate with the inverter of the power plant.
The installation of this solution is simple and can be done by a common electrical installation company or electrician, where the appropriate load cables are connected in the switchboard to the terminals of the control unit according to the wiring diagram. Subsequently, the installation company will set up a service screen with the end user - naming the circuits and the recommended order of switching and disconnecting loads (appliances) according to the user's practical experience and requirements. This load naming and prioritization (switching and disconnecting order) can then be changed by the user at any time without the need to call the assembly company.
Of course, the user has remote access to settings and all consumption data and graphs.
Maximum use of energy from PV = Maximum cost savings
The device works completely automatically in such a way that it ensures the consumption of the maximum energy produced from the PV plant in the building in which it is installed, by switching on and off these loads according to the user-defined order of switching and disconnecting loads. modulates this load. The user sets not only the order according to his personal priorities of comfort or economy, but also the limits at which the loads are switched on or off.
This prevents overflows of the energy produced by the PV plant into the grid (which is not economically advantageous for the owners of the PV plant) and the maximum of the produced energy is consumed directly in the building. Graphs of energy produced are available to the user.
After more than a year of operation of this PV plant with the Control4Energy solution, the owner of the house has confirmed the following consumption values and the following experience:
- Annual electricity consumption energy - 2700 kWhA (compared to the state before the installation of the Control4Energy solution decreased by 42.5%)
- In reality, in the period from April to October, the house works in a practically island mode and does not need to buy any energy from the supplier, as shown in the attached graphs.
- Gas consumption - approx. 8500kWh = no change. As the energy from the PV plant is not used in this building for heating by means of a heat pump, this consumption is not affected. However, in a situation with energy prices in 2022, the owner of the house came to the conclusion that he would purchase a heat pump for heating the house for more efficient use of water heating at the edges of the heating season.
- The amount of energy produced from this PV plant per year - 10.2 MWh with zero overflows into the grid, ie all energy was consumed in this house. At the current energy price of CZK 7.15 / kWh (2022), the owner saved CZK 72,930 per year thanks to this PV plant.
Return on investment and economic evaluation
- The price of the entire Control4Energy solution, including assembly, is CZK 40,000
- Annual purchased energy savings thanks to the Control4Energy solution - 2,000 kWh
- Price of saved energy (in average prices of 2022 in the Czech Republic - 7.15 CZK / kWh) - 14,300 CZK
- Return on the Control4Energy solution acquisition – 2,8 years.