Solar panels and electricity storage system for homes for the first time in Finland
Helen is the first company in Finland to offer solar panels and an electricity storage system as a tailored package for its domestic customers. Microgenerators will gain greater benefits from their solar panels with the aid of an electricity storage system.
The customers now have an ever-increasing range of options to take part in the production of distributed renewable energy. It is easy to start microgeneration with solar panels, and it is now more efficient than ever with the user of an electricity storage system.
The system increases the utilisation rate of solar panels by balancing production and consumption. On a sunny day, solar panels often produce more electricity than the microgenerator is able to consume. If the home also has an electricity storage system, the surplus electricity generated during the day can be stored and used in the evening or at night after the sun has gone down.
For example, it is possible to watch TV or cook for several hours, or take a sauna for two to three hours in the evening using the electricity stored in the home's electricity storage system.
"With the electricity storage system, a microgenerator can monitor how the solar power they have generated is used and stored. The electricity storage system also brings other possibilities for the microgenerator to manage the energy they have produced by increasing the smart features of the system. For example, you can add remote-controlled sockets at home or prepare for power cuts with the electricity storage system," explains Helen's Project Manager Kristiina Siilin.
The electricity storage system is the same height and width as a refrigerator, but it is only 25 centimetres deep. It is installed in a warm indoor space, for example, in a heated storeroom, hallway or a living room.
Part of the smart grid
"The electricity storage system raises the utilisation rate of the solar power system to over 90 per cent because it balances the fluctuation of production and consumption taking place even within one hour so that no sunshine leaks into the network. It is possible to raise the utilisation rate to 100 per cent with Helen's virtual accumulator. The virtual accumulator also makes it possible to buy back the electricity that has been sold to the network for the same price," says Kristiina Siilin.
That way, the owner of solar panels and an electricity storage system contributes to enabling the functioning of a smart grid while Helen utilises the storage system in demand response. As a producer of emission-free energy, the customer takes concrete action to mitigate climate change.
The electricity storage system is highly suitable for demand response: it is a quick and adaptable device that is flexible in two directions.
See examples of Helen's solar panels + electricity storage system packages.
