The sky’s the limit: Solimpeks’ hybrid solar systems produce both electricity and hot water.
I recently installed a fan in my roof to pump out the hot air from the attic and help keep the house cooler during the summer. I also have a solar panel on the roof to produce hot water. It seems logical that the solar energy harnessed for the water heater should also be able to provide electricity to operate the fan, right? Well, it turns out it’s not that simple – so until I install a separate photovoltaic (PV) solar panel on the roof, the fan will be plugged into an electric socket instead.
It would be nice to have a single solar panel capable of producing both hot water and electricity. A Turkish company, Solimpeks Solar Energy Corp., is producing precisely this type of combined system, and has now been awarded MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme) certification for its Volther hybrid system.
According to the company’s communication director, Kemal Ibis, it is the only product to receive such certification for both solar thermal and solar electricity. “This certification will help us to ramp up to sell in the UK because in England it’s compulsory for selling and getting into the Feed-In Tariff program in both the solar electricity and solar thermal scheme,” he explained in an email.
According to Ibis, the hybrid system costs approximately 20% less than installing separate systems for PV and solar hot water – and it looks nicer on the roof than a set of two different panels. In addition, the combined system is said to offer higher PV efficiency and durability by keeping the solar collectors cooler.
Solimpeks produces two types of Volther hybrid systems, one (PowerVolt) optimized for electricity production and another (PowerTherm) optimized for hot water production. So far, the company has installed systems in Turkey and Western Europe, and is planning to launch in other markets.
Image via Solimpeks
Read more on Green Prophet :
Turkey Unsure to Look East or West for Renewable Energy Development
Turkey’s Smart New Connection to Europe
Turkey Blowing and Going on Wind Energy
See also: A Cutting-Edge Hybrid Solar-Thermal-PV Collector from Turkey
Author: Ira Moskowitz
When his kids were small, Ira would point to litter on the ground and tell them: “That makes me angry!” He still gets angry about pollution, waste and abusive treatment of our world, but is encouraged by the growing awareness of environmental issues and has been following the latest developments in cleantech with great interest. Ira grew up in the green hills of western Massachusetts and moved to Israel in the early 1980s after completing an MA in Middle Eastern Studies. He has worked as a software developer and journalist, and translates works of Hebrew fiction and non-fiction to English. Ira is trying to age gracefully, but refuses to surrender his youthful belief in the potential for change, including a collaborative future for the peoples of the Middle East. To contact Ira, email ira (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
