Increased Self-Consumption Through Intelligent Energy Management

If the ratio of PV generation and energy demand remains constant, internal power supply and self-consumption can only be optimized by intelligent energy management. For this purpose, SMA Solar Technology AG offers the following energy management functions:

  • Basic solution for intelligent energy management: Sunny Home Manager and radio-controlled sockets

  • Storage solutions for new and existing PV systems: SMA Energy System Home

Basic solution for intelligent energy management with Sunny Home Manager and radio-controlled sockets

The first step in intelligent energy management is the recording and evaluation of the energy flows in the household. This energy monitoring looks at both the total energy consumption and that of individual home appliances using the measurement function of the radio-controlled sockets.

Based on the information compiled in this way, the Sunny Home Manager creates an overview with various views and diagrams in Sunny Portal. The user can then use this overview to understand the energy flows in his/her household and can decide in which areas it is worth deploying intelligent energy management.

The Sunny Home Manager also provides recommendations on the times at which the user can switch on specific devices in order to significantly increase self-consumption.

The next step is active energy management in the form of automatic load control in the household. Via the on/off switch function of the radio-controlled sockets or via control commands through data connection, loads can be switched on by the Sunny Home Manager precisely when the PV system is generating sufficient energy or when the energy costs are particularly low.

Optimization of energy utilization

We assume a typical, single-family home with an annual PV generation of 5000 kWh, an annual energy demand of 5000 kWh, and a natural self-consumption of 30%. In this example, the Sunny Home Manager can improve the energy balance through intelligent load control as follows:

  • Due to the high direct consumption by the controlled loads, the self-consumption quota increases from 30% to typically 45%.

  • Accordingly, the purchased electricity amount decreases from 3500 kWh to 2750 kWh per year. This equals 55% of the entire annual energy demand. The electricity bill is decreased by 22%.

Storage solution with battery inverter for new and existing PV systems

The most important elements of an SMA storage system with Sunny Island are one or more SMA PV inverters, one or more Sunny Island inverters, a battery, an SMA Energy Meter or a Sunny Home Manager. The Sunny Island is a battery inverter for parallel grid and stand-alone mode. 3 battery inverters Sunny Island can be connected to form a three-phase cluster.

The most important elements of an SMA storage system with Sunny Boy Storage are a Sunny Boy Storage, one or several SMA PV inverters, an SMA Energy Meter, and a battery. The SMA Energy Meter can also be optionally replaced by the Sunny Home Manager. This enables intelligent energy management. The Sunny Boy Storage is a single-phase, AC coupled battery inverter for parallel grid operation.

Optimization of energy utilization

We assume a typical, single-family home with an annual PV generation of 5000 kWh, an annual energy demand of 5000 kWh, and a natural self-consumption of 30%. In this example, the SMA storage system uses the available battery capacity of 5 kWh to optimize the energy balance as follows:

  • Due to the significantly larger battery-storage system, the higher usable energy leads to an increase in the self-consumption quota from 30% to typically 65%.

  • Accordingly, the purchased electricity amount decreases from 3500 kWh to 2150 kWh. The purchased electricity of 2150 kWh corresponds to 43% of the annual energy demand; this includes storage losses of 8%. The electricity bill is decreased by 38%.

Storage solution with hybrid inverter for new and existing PV systems

The SMA Energy System Home with the Sunny Tripower Smart Energy can be used with and without battery. The hybrid inverter combines the properties of a PV and a battery inverter. The battery capacity can be set individually. In addition to the DC-side battery charging, the Sunny Tripower Smart Energy also offers the option of AC-side charging. Consequently, the system can be flexibly extended by additional SMA PV inverters and thus meets the individual needs of the household.

The most important elements of the SMA Energy System Home with the Sunny Tripower Smart Energy are a Sunny Tripower 5.0 / 6.0 / 8.0 / 10.0 Smart Energy and an SMA Energy Meter. The Sunny Tripower Smart Energy is a hybrid inverter which can convert the PV energy into grid-compliant current as well as charge into the battery. The system can be optionally extended by further SMA PV inverters and/or the energy meter replaced by a Sunny Home Manager. By replacing the Energy Meter with a Sunny Home Manager, an intelligent energy management is possible. The AC-side charging functionality of the Sunny Tripower Smart Energy enables excess energy from the additionally connected inverters to be temporarily stored in the battery.

    What Are the Requirements for High Energy Self-Sufficiency and Self-Consumption Quotas?
    Internal Power Supply and Self-Consumption with SMA Smart Home