The era of renewables has really only just begun. Aleš Hradecky, the chairman of the Accumulation and Photovoltaic Guild, is convinced of this. “The interest in purchasing a photovoltaic power plant will grow exponentially with the growing shortage of energy sources,” he says
Aleš Hradecky, chairman of the Accumulation and Photovoltaics Guild
| Photo: courtesy of the Accumulation and Photovoltaics Guild
Can photovoltaics heat a family house in winter?
To the basic question of whether it can be heated photovoltaics, I answer that no. It can help, ideally with a heat pump, by significantly reducing your annual heating costs. It will certainly help, but you can’t be completely dependent on photovoltaics.
Why is it not enough?
From mid-November until February, it cannot be relied on, because the exposure to light is short and production is therefore worthless. There it is really not possible to rely only on photovoltaics, and if any of the suppliers tells you that they can, they are lying.
Photovoltaic alone is not enough to heat the house in winter: What is needed, how can you save
So what other heating source can it best be connected to?
I think it is ideal Heat pump, because it will significantly reduce your operating costs. But of course it also depends on how the house is designed, what kind of heat loss it has and what kind of heating system it has.
What kind of savings compared to heating with electricity can a heat pump with photovoltaics mean per season?
Compared to direct heaters or an electric boiler, costs can be reduced by 25 percent.
Source: DiaryAnd what kind of return on the initial investment can be expected in that case?
That’s a tough question because every house has different heat pump size requirements. Everyone is different insulated, differently sized and differently oriented. But I would not be afraid at all to say that the payback can be somewhere around ten years. In addition, bonuses can be used for the simultaneous use of both.
In your experience, do people take good care of their PVs?
With family houses, they tend to be rather irresponsible and leave it to the inspection, which is once every four years. Otherwise, however, photovoltaics seem to run on their own. They see her through the monitoring and are not stressed in any way. Of course, I recommend giving it light maintenance.
Heat pump? The acquisition costs hundreds of thousands, but its operation is cheap
Does the photovoltaic power plant have to be connected to the distribution network, or is it enough to have home storage?
You usually have to be connected to the network in combination with home storage. The only one who doesn’t need a network is a small island system in a cottage, where else at all electricity it is not and cannot even be talked about year-round use. There is no connection to the network, but otherwise it should be connected. In addition, people will not even be able to get the subsidy without it.
In your estimation, what is the future of photovoltaics in the Czech Republic?
I am an optimist and say that our time has only just begun renewable resources. If today we have two gigawatts installed in the distribution network, by 2030 it could be 12 to 16 gigawatts. Every year, the number of houses with a power plant on the roof will increase exponentially. It is not assumed that the price of electricity would fundamentally decrease, because there will be a shortage of it. I think it’s an obvious choice and anyone who can count to five will sooner or later start thinking about something like this and want to install it.
