Sonnen's first product is to be released this year. In the future, the home storage unit of the Shell subsidiary Sonnen will use software to control the heat pump in addition to the solar system, battery and charging of the EV. Additional hardware is no longer needed.

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This integration takes the complexity out of networking heat pumps, solar systems and storage units, which will then be possible at the click of a mouse. Because the resources of many specialised companies are currently at their limits.

Heat pump stabilises energy system

"The heat pump is the perfect technology for the fluctuating supply of a renewable energy world," says Sonnen boss Oliver Koch. In future, the heat pump will use surplus solar power. Because heat pumps can do much more than a classic heating system. The integration is designed in such a way that the heat pumps can be controlled as part of a so-called virtual power plant together with EVs and home storage in a network.

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In this intelligent network, the heat pump can be activated specifically when the supply on the electricity market is currently higher than the consumption. In this way, they stabilise the electricity grid by smoothing out generation and consumption peaks. (nhp/mfo)