Earth Notes: General Bibliography (acke2023solar)

• [acke2023solar] Dries Acke and Michael Schmela and Jonathan Gorremans and Christophe Lits and Jan Osenberg et al. Solar Heat Report - How Solar PV empowers households to turn down fossil gas and save on energy bills (accessed 2023-03-12), SolarPower Europe, 2023-03, ISBN 9789464669022 (report) (BibTeX).
  abstract

  This report examines the residential sector, and focuses on three European markets where fossil gas plays a dominant role in home heating: Germany, Spain, and Italy. Specifically, the report assesses the role of solar PV in combination with electricity-based heating solutions in empowering households to reduce gas use, while saving on electricity and heating bills. The report finds that medium-sized residential solar PV owners have enjoyed substantial savings on their energy bills in 2022 (savings up to 64%), especially in combination with a heat pump (savings up to 84%). These households will continue to benefit from their investment in the coming years in all scenarios, even as gas prices stabilise at lower levels compared to 2022 (even at pre-crisis price levels of 20 EUR/MWh). ... The report finds that solar PV is a key component for making gas-free homes affordable to all Europeans. Solar PV and heat pump load profiles match surprisingly well throughout the year, especially in combination with a water buffer tank. This combination reduces households' energy bills, while also benefiting the energy system as a whole; it transfers electricity demand into hours of high renewable energy production. Solar PV substantially improves the business case for heat pump systems, with savings more than tripling compared to a heat pump alone. Looking at the German example, together, the heat pump + solar PV dream team reduces energy bills by around 62% compared to a fossil gas residential heating system.
  note

  [Quote: "Solar PV generates the electricity required by the heat pump, tackling both households' energy bills, and the decarbonisation of their power and heat needs. Crucially, the installation of a buffer storage tank alongside a heat pump is key for the effective combination of solar PV and heat pumps, and to truly leverage the economic potential of these technologies. In the study, we assumed average buffer storage sizes of 400 (Italy & Spain) to 800 litres (Germany). In this way, the warm water can be stored and utilised later, maximising the self-consumption of the house." Quote: "[] solar PV + heat pumps will only work effectively together if there is a specific overlap between electric heat demand and solar PV production. First, for solar PV and heat pump loads to correlate beyond a 10% range, the usage of a buffer storage tank is fundamental."]