Guide: Air-conditioning, Heat Pumps and Photovoltaics

A heat pump extracts heat from the outside air and uses electrical energy to raise it to heating temperature. The amount of electricity required for this depends on the building’s heating load and the flow temperature required by the heating system: underfloor heating systems require lower temperatures than small radiators. The installation location of the outdoor unit and the distance to the neighbouring property must also be clarified.

The available units can be found under ‘Heat Pumps’. Anyone wishing to generate some of the electricity required for these themselves will find a suitable starting point on the ‘PV System’ overview page.

This guide categorises the product range and directs you to the page that answers your question. It is organised into four topics: photovoltaics, air conditioning, heat pumps, and taxation, law and waste disposal. Each section summarises in a few sentences what is important when making a selection and then refers you to the relevant category or information page.

A photovoltaic system consists of a few components that must fit together: solar panels generate direct current, the inverter converts this into alternating current for the home and the grid, an energy storage system stores the surplus for the evening, and the mounting structure holds the panels on the roof. How these parts interact and the order in which a system is planned is set out in the PV system overview.

The individual groups can be found under ‘Solar Panels’, ‘Inverters’, ‘Battery Storage’ and ‘Mounting Systems’. Those who do not have their own roof space or wish to start small will find plug-and-play systems under ‘Balcony Power Plants’ that provide grid feed-in up to 800 watts; the largest category, comprising four modules, is listed under ‘Balcony Power Plant 2000 Watts’.