AC ELWA 2 in product test by heise online

The product test conducted by heise online over several months with the AC ELWA 2 was not a paid cooperation or the like – the results were published without the involvement or alteration by my-PV. It is important for us to mention this because many product tests nowadays resemble more of a paid advertisement.

Why is it sensible to operate a heating rod?

The argument here is self-consumption: For a kilowatt-hour of electricity fed into the grid, the customer now receives very little from energy providers or funding agencies. The costs for a conventional gas or oil heating system are usually higher per kilowatt-hour – besides the environmental aspect. So, to make more use of energy from the roof, the solar-electric heating rod is a cost-effective and easy-to-retrofit solution that significantly increases self-consumption.

The heating rod converts surplus electricity into heat – whether for hot water or heating water, the AC ELWA 2 is approved for both applications. But isn't electricity too valuable to waste it?

With expensive grid electricity, that would be a foolish idea – but with electricity from the photovoltaic system, which is surplus and would otherwise be unprofitably fed into the grid, photovoltaic heat is worthwhile. As described in the video, the tester pays 7.1 cents per kilowatt-hour – a reference price of about 35 cents shows how valuable electricity is and how sensible it is to use photovoltaic electricity for self-consumption.

Why not just a battery storage system?

On a sunny day, besides supplying household appliances, the battery storage system is usually already full before noon. The rest of the photovoltaic energy then goes unprofitably into the grid. In this case, for example, the AC ELWA 2 is a solution to achieve even more self-consumption.

How easy the AC ELWA 2 can be set up and what steps are necessary for this? And whether the AC ELWA 2 even makes sense, is shown by the independent test of the magazine heise online (video in German).

Read the detailed report from heise online and get all the information about the product test: The article on the AC ELWA 2 can be found here (in German).