AC•THOR 9s in France
Photovoltaic-powered hot water and space heating in a French Home
In Schillerdorf, France, PV electricity is efficiently used for hot water, heating, and the pool with the AC•THOR 9s.
Facts about the project
- Owner
- Location
- Photovoltaic output
- Photovoltaic orientation and capacity
- Inverter
- Heat storage size
- Building type
- Year of construction
- my-PV product
- System control
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Lower feed-in tariffs for PV electricity are encouraging system owners in France to use more of their own solar power. With tariffs being adjusted every three months and often showing strong fluctuations, uncertainty for homeowners is rising.
One of the pioneers is Cédric Balzer. He lives with his family in a single-family home built in 2005 in Schillersdorf, near the German border, and runs the heating company Chauffage Balzer. His PV system has a total capacity of 10.4 kWp with modules facing both south and east. Like many others, he is directly affected by the unattractive feed-in remuneration. While he receives only €0.13/kWh for surplus electricity fed into the grid, the household electricity price in France is around €0.25/kWh (including taxes).
Looking for a way to increase his self-consumption and use PV electricity more efficiently, he visited my-PV at the ISH trade fair in Frankfurt. There he discovered the AC•THOR 9s, a linearly controlled 0 – 9 kW photovoltaic power diverter for hot water, electric heat sources, and space heating.
Personal customer opinion and resumee
Cedric Balzer is extremely satisfied with his system. He particularly appreciates the versatility of the solution, as he can now use the PV electricity not only for household appliances but also for hot water, heating, and the pool. For the entrepreneur, it’s clear that he can now recommend the my-PV solutions to his customers with confidence and from personal experience.
“With your product, I can use my-PV for complete heating (domestic hot water + house heating + pool) and not only for electricity production. I was also looking for a certified product and not a prototype. It’s a product I can now recommend to my clients, and I know what I’m talking about.”
Installation and system setup
Since Cedric had no prior training on the AC•THOR 9s, he adopted a “learning by doing” approach during installation. Despite this, he was able to successfully integrate the system into his existing energy setup.
How is the system set up?
The total photovoltaic capacity of the system is 10.4 kWp, distributed across panels with different orientations and inclinations: 2 kWp vertical facing east, 3.2 kWp vertical facing south, 2.4 kWp at 13° south, and 2.8 kWp at 38° south. The system uses 26 microinverters, which were not strictly necessary, but the owner chose this solution for safety reasons and to accommodate the different panel orientations. The PV surplus is first used to charge the household electric vehicle, and any remaining surplus is now diverted to heating instead of being fed into the grid.
Despite the relatively low hot water demand of around 80 liters per day, the 280 m² house also requires space heating, and the outdoor swimming pool needs to be heated. With the AC•THOR 9s, Cedric Balzer can now use his PV surplus for complete home heating, including domestic hot water, space heating, and the pool. Previously, any PV surplus was fed into the grid at an uneconomical price.
Domestic hot water is supplied via a 60-liter heat exchanger integrated into the 750-liter buffer tank, which is sufficient during the summer months when demand is lower. In winter, a bypass is opened, allowing the system to use the 190-liter hot water tank of the heat pump in series with the 60 liters from the buffer tank, ensuring sufficient hot water for daily use.
Space heating and pool heating are supplied via a 9 kW three-phase heating element installed in the buffer tank and powered directly by PV surplus energy. The AC•THOR 9s continuously receives real-time data from the my-PV WiFi Meter and adjusts the heating output accordingly. The stored energy is distributed to the underfloor heating, radiators, domestic hot water system, and the 55 m³ swimming pool. When solar energy alone is insufficient, the heat pump automatically provides additional heating. Six solar thermal collectors also support the buffer tank and can raise its temperature up to 90°C. The AC•THOR 9s itself heats the tank to a maximum of 65°C, leaving capacity for the solar thermal system to provide a final boost up to 95°C. The integration with the solar thermal system is managed via a heat exchanger within the buffer tank, while pool heating is supplied through a separate heat exchanger.
Before the PV surplus was used for heating, the house relied solely on the heat pump. By diverting PV surplus to heating, the owner expects to reduce heat pump usage by approximately 40%, which will extend the lifetime of the system.
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AC•THOR 9s
in use
Simple & efficient: AC•THOR 9s controls up to 3 electrical heat sources depending on the availability of PV energy and heat demand – for both hot water, as well as for space heating. It ensures your personal living comfort fully automatically.
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