Minimise your utility bills and generate hot water using surplus solar power

Friday 13 May 2016

For most households, the balance between solar energy consumed and exported back to the grid is roughly equally split – 50% used and 50% exported. Exporting surplus energy back to the grid is perfectly acceptable, however in most circumstances that energy is purchased back in the evening when you need it most. One question people have started to ask themselves is whether to self-consume the energy produced through energy storage products such as the Tesla Powerwall, which stores the energy generated throughout the day during off-peak hours and is released during the evening to power household items.

Cut the cost of heating water in your home

Energy controllers which direct energy to storage or immersion heaters are a cost effective solution to make use of the green energy you generate from your renewable energy solution and save you a bit of money in the process. One product we have introduced recently is the Solar iBoost from Marlec which we have been installing quite frequently. Run By The Sun Managing Director Simon Butt was fortunate to be involved in the product development of the iBoost having developed a strong relationship with Marlec over the last 20 years.

The Solar iBoost is designed to work with your immersion heater hot water tank, cleverly managing the export energy from your PV solar array to heat a 100L water tank from 20˚C to 60˚C in two and half hours during the course of the day. Because export tariffs are already predetermined on 50% of energy produced being exported back to the grid regardless of how much energy you actually use, the iBoost doesn’t affect Feed In Tariff payments.

Introducing the immersun

Of course there are other energy controller products in the marketplace and we have recently fitted 4eco’s immersun. Like the Solar iBoost, it is compatible with all renewable energy technologies, from solar to wind turbines and helps to direct energy to immersion heaters, storage heaters as well as electric underfloor heating systems.

The immersun is designed and manufactured in the UK and can increase the return on your investment in solar technology by up to 5%. There’s very little to choose between an immersun and a Solar iBoost, however the one notable difference is that the accurate data delivered via the wireless sensor to the immerlink (a wireless network used by the immersun device) can be accessed from mobile and tablet devices.

Key features of the immersun include

Indicates current import/export power levels as well as diverted power to the heater
Savings are accurately reported daily and monthly as well as the total savings
Save up to 15p per unit of hot water, saving as much as £250 over the year with the Immersun
Using free, clean energy from your solar panels not only benefits customers financially but also helps to further reduce their carbon footprint and environmental impact.

The immersun is fitted with a clear graphical LCD display, allowing the following information such as grid import/export in kW, diverted energy in kW and savings both in monetary value and kWh.

Both the Solar iBoost and immersun are similarly priced and suggest similar return on investment periods (over 2 years) making both products a matter of preference and dependent on what is required for a specific installation. To find out more about how you can get the most out of surplus energy generated by your solar system, please contact Simon Butt on 0116 270 1926.