Press release

SYSTAIC innovations at Intersolar 2009: Solutions to enhance personalised options of energy usage

SYSTAIC has always favoured a sensible approach regarding the design and structural components of its photovoltaic applications. For this achievement the Düsseldorf-based solar technology company has been awarded with multiple architecture awards – by no means a given in the photovoltaic industry. At Intersolar SYSTAIC will now be showcasing new ways in which using solar power can be optimised even further – in buildings, in conjunction with solar power plants and in automobiles.

The approach pursued by SYSTAIC is different to what is currently being discussed under headings such as “Smart Meters” or “intelligent networks”, strategies seeking to enhance network supply options. For consumers, it makes little sense to feed their power into the network first, only to repurchase it for their own usage at increasingly rising energy prices at a later stage – not even considering system loss in the network. This is why SYSTAIC counts on solutions that will present new and better ways to consumers by making optimum use of their own power.

Featuring in the building division for the first time at Intersolar is a new system that realises photovoltaic combined heat and power in conjunction with the SYSTAIC energy roof. Converting sunlight into electricity generates heat, a resource that in conventional systems is dissipated into the environment without being used. In the solution proposed by SYSTAIC, this heat is consequently put to further use, namely to generate space heat and hot water. A process that is quite straightforward – it simply feeds the exhaust air into a heat pump system. Increasing the temperature means that the heat pump can work more efficiently, i.e. it uses less energy compared to conventional air-water systems. The annual coefficient of performance, i.e. the relationship between used power and generated heat, is more than 70 % higher in the SYSTAIC system than is required by the funding guidelines for heat pumps.

“This optimised usage system is also the decisive factor when it comes to solar installations”, explains Michael Pack, Chairman of the Executive Board at systaic AG. “Photovoltaics or additional thermal collectors instead? Photovoltaics is definitely the better, because all-inclusive, option – combining electricity and heat. In this particular case it even includes air-conditioning: During midsummer, for example, it is not exhaust heat but space heat that is used as 'source heat' to generate hot water. Which will then be cooled down in the process for the benefit of heating the water.”

Systems like these must be controlled in line with requirements; this is known as power management in specialist circles. The SYSTAIC system also includes additional aspects such as energy storage, energy generation, energy exchange with automotive batteries and tariff comparisons. Named “home@systaic” due to its online connection to up-to-date weather and tariff developments, this control instrument allows users to adapt their homes perfectly to their personal solar power production – a service that exceeds “Smart Meters” which merely optimise the network by far.

The feature of air-conditioning is realised by SYSTAIC also in another area of every-day life, namely inside the car: Together with its subsidiary Webasto Solar, the business division SYSTAIC Automotive is the only industrial manufacturer in the world to provide solar solutions for cars. 37,000 vehicles, among them Audi, VW and Mercedes, were equipped with SYSTAIC photovoltaic generators last year alone. Ensuring that the car is supplied with fresh air also when switched off, they thus support the air-conditioning system – a solution that is not only convenient but also saves fuel.

SYSTAIC is going to show to the public at Intersolar the extent to which solar roofs for cars by now advanced and the way in which an automotive battery can support the home power network. By way of visualisation, one of the most spectacular models in the automotive premium segment will be placed into the limelight: the BlueZERO Mercedes-Benz. The innovative concept car was fitted by SYSTAIC Automotive with a newly developed solar roof which, based on thin-film technology and transparent, feeds solar power to the electric motor of the vehicle.

“In contrast to all other solar companies, SYSTAIC does not market individual components but innovative solutions that are suitable for everyday application in buildings and cars”, illustrates Michael Pack. “At trade fairs, solar products often seem bland and boring to customers; claims about their efficiency and effectiveness as well as the systems' visual appearance hardly become apparent. If you really want to know how solar building integration can be achieved in its most perfect and beautiful form, you should come to the systaic AG stand and see for yourself. What is more, our customers are reaping the benefits from considerable surplus capacities and a drastic price drop in solar cells and modules in the current market environment.”

SYSTAIC also produces solar power on a grand scale: Together with its subsidiary Enerparc, systaic AG has specialised in photovoltaic power plants starting from a minimum capacity of 10 Megawatts – enough energy to fully supply thousands of households with electricity. Current project: SYSTAIC integrates photovoltaic modules in greenhouses – the perfect symbiosis of using old and new surface areas. The new power plant technology is visualised in 3D at the SYSTAIC stand.

SYSTAIC at Intersolar 2009: Hall B6, Stand No. 580.