Key takeaways
- Heat pumps draw energy from the air or the ground outside into your home, making them an efficient and sustainable way to heat your property.
- Using solar energy to power your heat pumps can make them even more sustainable.
- If you want to use solar energy to power your heat pump, you’ll need to make sure your solar system has a battery energy storage system, so that you can power your heat pump at night.
- Depending on whether you’re starting a solar system from scratch or converting an existing solar system for battery storage, you will need to choose between two different types of inverters: a battery inverter or a hybrid inverter.
- Benefits of combining solar power with a heat pump include reducing your carbon footprint, saving on energy costs, and taking advantage of government incentives.
Nowadays, there is a huge range of options on offer for anyone wanting to cut their carbon footprint.
And more and more homeowners are thinking about investing in more than one kind of sustainable technology – and using them together to help them cut their energy use, emissions and spending even further.
Heat pumps and solar panels seem like a natural fit for this sort of approach. But is it possible to use heat pumps and solar panels together? And, if so, how
can you make sure you maximize the potential of both kinds of technology – and still keep your home snug and warm all through the winter?
What are heat pumps?
You might remember from your science lessons that heat naturally flows from warmer places into cooler places. A heat pump’s job is to move warm air from one place to another. That might mean drawing warm air into your home from outside, a bit like a reverse air conditioner. Or it might mean pushing warm air out of your home to keep it cooler in the summer. This is much more sustainable than most traditional, fossil fuel-based methods of heating homes: heat pumps use energy to move heat into your home, but they don’t use much energy to create heat the way an old-fashioned central heating system does. That means that heat pumps can create two to three times more heat compared to the electricity they consume. Heat pumps come in a few different forms:
Air source heat pumps draw heat from the air outside your home. If the air isn’t warm enough, it will use a little bit of energy to boost it to a higher temperature, so that it can warm up your home efficiently. Air source heat pumps can be divided into two sub-types: air-to-water heat pumps move heat into the water that runs through your radiators or underfloor heating systems. Air-to-air heat pumps work more like air conditioning, pushing warm air directly into your home.
Ground source heat pumps draw heat from the ground by circulating liquid underground, using the earth’s natural warmth to heat it. This makes installing a ground source heat pump a little more complicated, which means they’re generally much more expensive.
Hybrid heat pump systems combine either type of heat pump with a traditional boiler or gas-based heating system. The system monitors the temperature outside and, if it’s too cold to use the heat pump efficiently, switches to the traditional heating system to warm up your home.
How can you use solar energy to power your heat pump?
Heat pumps use much less energy than traditional heating methods, but they do need to use some electricity – which means there’s still room for improvement when it comes to sustainability. But by using solar panels to power your heat pump, you may be able to cut your carbon footprint further. And, even better, you might be able to reduce your costs, too. Here’s how you can start hooking your heat pump up to your solar system. You might find that your solar panels can’t produce all the electricity you need to run your pump – if that’s the case, you might need to rely on grid power every
now and then. Once you’ve confirmed how much energy you need, you can start installing your solar system or upgrading your existing system. You’ll need to choose the right solar panels, of course. But you’ll also need to pick the right inverters, which convert DC solar energy into AC electricity that’s usable in your home. When you’re powering something as important as a heat pump, you’ll need to choose inverters that are as reliable and efficient as possible. That’s why lots of homeowners choose Conair technologies recommended inverters, which:
Have high efficiency ratings.
Offer an extended warranty and technical support.
Use built-in monitoring to keep an eye on how your solar system is performing.
You can find out more about how to set up your solar system here.
How Conair technologies energy storage solution helps you stay warm all day (and night) long
There’s one big challenge with using solar energy to power your heat pump: solar panels can’t generate energy at night when you’re most likely to need to be using your heat pump.
That’s why many people who combine heat pumps with solar power choose to add some form of energy storage to their system. This means that your solar system can generate ‘extra’ energy during the day and then store it in a battery, to be used at night once the sun has gone down and the temperature has dropped.
What are the benefits of powering your heat pump with solar energy?
We’ve already touched on a few of the benefits of combining a heat pump with a solar system, but let’s explore them in more detail:
Reduce your environmental impact.
Heat pumps certainly use less energy than traditional heating methods, but they do still require some electricity to run; by switching to renewable energy, you can ensure that the entire cycle of heat generation is completely sustainable.
Save on fuel costs.
With fuel costs on the rise, it’s hardly surprising that many people are combining heat pumps with solar panels with another goal in mind: saving money. One study estimate that households using a combination of solar power and heat pumps saved up to 84% on their household bills. That’s a huge difference for any household. The chance to save such a huge chunk of energy costs is driving the popularity of heat pump/solar power systems around the world.
Choosing Conair Technologies solar solutions for your solar-powered heat pump
Heat pumps and solar power really are better together: by combining them, you can take control of your energy costs and your carbon footprint. The key is to combine them in the right way, with the right battery setup and the right inverters. So that you can always get the energy you need to keep your home cozy without draining energy from your lights or appliances. Whether you’re trying out a solar-powered heat pump for your home or your business, we’ll be there to make sure you reap all the benefits of your technology. Ready to take your energy savings to the next level? We’re here to help – just get in touch to see how we can help you get more from your solar power/heat pump system.