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The kilowatt-peak is a notion used to forecast the output of photovoltaic panels and therefore to compare them with each other.
A combined heat and power (CHP) system generates both electrical power and heat from a single fuel (e.g. natural gas). The system comes with a whole host of benefits. The technology was devised to serve large buildings such as hospitals. Today however, it is also available to be used in single family homes .
Solar panels allow you to convert light directly into electricity. This is done by the converter. The expected output is dependant of the electrical capacity and the orientation of the panels.
This is a system that captures sunlight, converts it into heat and uses this to reheat the water in your pipes.
With a home battery, you can store electricity for later use. This is of particular interest to the owners of solar panels.
To store electricity, it has to be converted into another form and turned back into electricity when it is needed. There are different ways of doing this,
When the choice of how to heat the water is sound, the expense can change from excessive to very affordable - and very ecological...
No. In Belgium, and in Brussels in particular, it is better to produce renewable electricity with solar panels than invest in a wind turbine.
Heat pumps can really help save energy. But which model suits your needs?
Microgrids are energy distribution systems which only involve a small group of connections. They can operate independently or be connected to a larger grid.
Quite a few people are considering getting in a current generator to make sure they have electrical power when the mains power is switched off. But these types of generators are quite expensive. Plus you cannot just use them as part of your home power network.
Cogeneration is a system that generates both electricity and heat from a single fuel (natural gas).
A private individual who generates green electricity receives, by default, one green certificate per 1,000 kWh for 10 years starting from the date of certification of their installation. In Brussels, a multiplication coefficient entitles consumers to additional green certificates.
You can sell your green certificates at the market price to an energy supplier or an intermediary.
A heat pump is an economical alternative to a traditional boiler. In fact, the technology produces up to 75% of the heat you need. The remaining 25% comes from natural gas or electricity.
Everything depends on the space available on your home and the power you wish to generate.
The smart meter or intelligent meter is an electronic meter that is capable of recording and transmitting power consumption data. Smart meters will be rolled out in Brussels gradually.
There are three possibilities: buying green energy, owning shares in a green producer, or producing it yourself.
Use the electric car batteries to store electricity and supply electricity to the national grid or home electricity network: this is the idea of vehicle-to-grid.
With a PV heater you can store excess electricity generated by your photovoltaic panels as domestic hot water. This solution is worth considering if you produce more electricity than you consume.
Why not buy back the surplus solar energy produced by your neighbours? This is the concept of collective self-consumption.
Check the state and cleanliness of your photovoltaic panels regularly. Make sure that the installation’s cables are in good condition and that your inverter and green meter are working properly.
A small photovoltaic generation installation (≤ 10 kVA) may automatically disconnect from the network. These automatic disconnections occur when the voltage or the frequency at the attachment clamps on the converter reach values that are too low or too high. There may be several reasons for this.
In exchange for financial compensation, major electricity consumers or owners of power generation units can adapt their use of the electricity grid to contribute to a better balance. In the future, flexibility markets may be opened up to private consumers too.
Review your energy contracts, get a free energy audit, insulate, replace your boiler or install photovoltaic panels. There are a whole host of solutions for saving energy in a co-owned property!
Your installation has to fulfil technical and regulatory conditions for you to be entitled to green certificates.
This measure is not applied in Brussels. The smaller number of solar panels here means that the situation in the capital is quite different. Of course, this may change, and Brussels may yet follow in the footsteps of Flanders.
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