Technology

Home Power’s Energy Independence Solution

Shravan Chunduri
  • The photovoltaic (PV) installation and hydrogen energy storage system in Meckenheim, Germany, provides zero-carbon electricity and heat to a commercial property
  • The system is fully independent from the grid and demonstrates the potential of current technologies
  • The system is cascadable, meaning the concept can be adapted to various other scenarios.

A photovoltaic installation combined with a hydrogen energy storage system provides zero-carbon electricity and heat to a commercial property in Meckenheim near Bonn, Germany.

This solution, developed by Home Power Solutions AG (HPS), was one of the finalists for The smarter E AWARD 2023. The storage device is charged with excess powerfrom a 98kW PV installation located on the roof and façade of the building. The renewable energy makes the building fully independent from the grid. The heat produced during the conversion of hydrogen is utilized by 2 heat pumps. They are driven by the reconverted energy, which is stored as hydrogen in cylinder gas packs during summer.

Although this type of long-term storage requires a major investment and is not financially viable at this time, it demonstrates what is possible using current technologies; it simply works as a showcase project. This system is cascadable, meaning the concept can be adapted to various other scenarios.

The text is an excerpt from TaiyangNews New Solar Products Overview H1/2023, which can be downloaded for free here.