Important facts about SG Ready heat pumps
The SG-Ready label shows you whether your new heat pump has a special SG-Ready interface and is therefore ready for a smart grid. It was introduced in 2012 by the German Heat Pump Association (BWP) together with 17 heat pump manufacturers and applies exclusively in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. alpha innotec was also involved right from the start and only offers smart grid-ready heat pumps. We have summarized your advantages as an operator of an SG-Ready heat pump in this guide.
What is smart grid?
In an intelligent electricity grid, also known as a smart grid, the generation, storage and consumption of electricity will be coordinated in future. As renewable energies such as wind energy and solar energy are naturally not constantly available, power fluctuations in the public electricity grids must be balanced out.
The word “smart” indicates that the grids are controlled automatically using intelligent information, communication and data technologies. As energy generation is increasingly decentralized, countless small energy suppliers - such as your photovoltaic system - energy storage systems and energy consumers need to be integrated. This is the only way to ensure that the lines are not overloaded by excessive consumption or excessive feed-ins.
SG-Ready heat pumps are grid-friendly
The installation figures for heat pumps have risen considerably in recent years. So you are not alone in the power grid with your heat pump. The more heat pumps go into operation, the more system-relevant they become in the smart grid, as grid utilization will increase rapidly in some cases, especially in winter. As part of intelligent load management, SG-Ready heat pumps can be addressed via their SG-Ready interface. For example, your energy supplier can shut them off temporarily to avoid power peaks. Conversely, the heat pump can use surplus electricity in the power grid to heat up the buffer storage tank. Heat pumps with an SG-Ready interface make electricity grids more stable and support the efficient use of electricity. They are therefore an important success factor for the energy and heating transition.
The interaction of SG-Ready heat pump and PV system
However, the SG-Ready interface can do more than just provide grid serviceability. It helps you to heat intelligently with the surplus electricity from your PV system and save money in the process by ensuring permanent communication between the PV system, heat pump and buffer tank. Instead of simply feeding the surplus electricity into the public grid, your heat pump automatically uses it to heat the hot water tank. It converts the electrical energy into thermal energy, which you can then use for heating and showering. Why is this cheaper? The feed-in tariff in cents is usually significantly lower than the local heat pump tariff. You should therefore use your self-generated electricity yourself wherever possible.
Requirements for the controller of an SG-Ready heat pump
The controller of an SG-Ready heat pump must be able to switch to at least the following four operating states. It is controlled either via a digital wireless signal from your energy supplier or via a higher-level controller that communicates with your heat pump and the PV inverter.
Requirements for the controller of an SG-Ready heat pump
Operating status 1:
To avoid load peaks and strong frequency fluctuations in the grid, the energy supplier can disconnect your heat pump from the grid a maximum of 3 times a day for 120 minutes each time (e.g. in Germany). The subsequent heating phase must then be at least as long as the previous disconnection period. Of course, the energy supplier disconnection does not mean that you have to freeze during this time. Why not?
With a buffer tank or underfloor heating, you can easily bypass these EVU blocks. They take over the heat supply to your heating system unnoticed. Electric rod heaters can also be used, but then they run on more expensive electricity.
Operating status 2:
Your heat pump runs in energy-efficient normal mode. The heat pump control ensures that the cylinder is well filled before the start of the blocking period. This also means that your heat pump must have sufficient power. So be sure to seek advice from a heat pump professional before purchasing your heat pump. The right design of heat pump and buffer tank will save you a lot of money in the long run.
Operating status 3:
The heat pump is set to increased operation for heating and hot water preparation when your PV system is generating surplus power. This ensures that your self-produced electricity is used to operate the heat pump. As the compressor should be switched on and off intelligently and sensibly, this is not a definitive start-up command, but a switch-on recommendation.
Operating status 4:
For this condition, it must be possible to set different tariff and usage models for different control models on the controller. A definitive command is given to actively switch on the heating and optionally to increase the temperature in the heat storage tank.
You can find the exact regulations on the website of the bwp Bundesverband Wärmepumpe e.V.
