Customers are taking their energy into their own hands.

In recent years, more and more people have decided to take control of the energy revolution by installing PV systems and battery storage systems, buying electric cars or by replacing their old oil-based heating system with a modern heat pump. The road to 24 hours of sun is illuminated by the guiding light of the PV installer, Martin Hackl of Fronius elaborates.

“The individual steps to a personal energy revolution are often both as simple as they are economical,” explains Martin Hackl, Global Director Solar Energy, Fronius International. The journey begins with a PV system on the roof and a 30% rate of self-consumption, for example. By replacing an old oil-based heating system with a heat pump intelligently supplied with PV energy, more of the PV energy produced by the household can be used in the household.

Consumers can extract even more warmth from the sun by using excess energy to heat water. This is very economical and, incidentally, can also increase the service life of the heating system significantly. “The next logical step is therefore charging an electric car using self-generated energy,” reasons Hackl.

 A wide range of solutions

Fronius offers a wide range of solutions, such as intelligent inverters, energy-storage options in the shape of the Fronius Solar Battery, LG Chem RESU or the BYD Battery-Box HV, and water-heating solutions using the FroniusOhmpilot. As if that were not enough, every Fronius Snap Inverter has all the right functions and interfaces to easily charge an electric car with domestically generated energy fitted as standard.

“Simply generating and distributing solar energy to the load consumers is not enough,” explains Martin Hackl. “It is equally important to get the right energy flow management system in place with a suitable analysis tool.” For this very reason, Fronius has developed the intelligent electricity meter – the Fronius Smart Meter – and the Solar.web analysis software. These tools allow system owners to determine the energy consumption of individual load consumers quickly and easily, and put in place targeted measures for efficient energy flow management.

From Service Partner to System Partner

 Many people are still not aware of the numerous options that are already available, as well as the enormous potential for ongoing development and the cost effectiveness of the systems. “The installers play a key role here,” says Martin Hackl. “They know their customers and their needs. They are therefore in a unique position to become not just a PV provider, but also an advisor and a guide in their customer’s energy revolution. It’s a huge opportunity.”

Fronius provides support for customers undertaking their personal energy revolution not just through products and services, but also through a comprehensive training programme and helping Fronius Service Partners to become Fronius System Partners. (HCN)

2 March 2019