In spring, Conergy started the first Germany-wide own power consumption pilot project. After positive feedback, it has brought two new products to the consumer market: the Conergy VisionBox and the Conergy SunReader Portal.
According to the company, numerous test customers have so far experienced the own power consumption solution from Hamburg. We are extremely satisfied with the experiences so far, comments Norbert Apfel, managing director of Conergy Germany.
The project shows two big advantages of the conscious handling of the own energy consumption. First, there is a monetary advantage since, thanks to the VisionBox, many testers were immediately able to exceed the 30 percent threshold and thus benefit from higher subsidies and an attractive return. And second, the more intelligent handling of the produced energy at peak load times as well as the better utilization of the grid both of which support further the use of renewable energy sources.
Conergy says the new Renewable Energy Law (EEG) greatly strengthened own power consumption. Since this July, if homeowners utilize their own solar power, they receive approximately 3.6 cents more per kilowatt-hour than those who regularly feed-in solar energy. The trick, explains the company, is exceeding the 30 percent threshold of ones own power consumption share, in order to receive eight cents more for the portion above than for the regular feed-in.
It says this means that own power consumption is already profitable from the first kilowatt-hour from an individuals own roof system.
In a statement, the company explains: The Conergy VisionBox states on its touch screen how much energy the system is producing at the time and at the same time states how much electricity is being consumed by the household. The SunReader portal provides an even more detailed analysis. This enables customers to maximize their own power consumption share and thereby to exceed the 30 percent threshold without having to purchase additional and expensive electricity from the grid during peak load times during the day.
The SunReader internet portal reportedly reads off all the relevant detailed information via a LAN connection and makes it available in real time including the financial income. Conergy states that the portal provides up to the minute analyses of all the data and prepares graphs from the power volumes generated by the roof system through to direct consumption.
It adds that diagrams show how much of this power is consumed directly by the customer and how much has been fed in on that specific day and since commissioning of the solar power system. Additionally, it says customers can see the monetary amounts generated, the tariff and any electricity procurement costs, the CO2 savings as well as the energy consumed overall by the household.
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