Photovoltaic systems for home and to go

This article is available in German only.

Here is an English translation of its summary.

A so-called balcony power plant allows for harvesting solar electricity in very simple and rather inexpensive way and feeding it over a plug socket directly into the house net. This saves electricity costs and, depending on the components used and their installation, can pay off after just a few years of operation – yet only to the extent that the electricity is also consumed at the same time. As this mode of operation passes on surplus electricity to the general public and does not require a battery, it is best for the overall ecological balance.

For certain independence from solar radiation, which is not always strong, and from the general power grid, one needs a rechargeable battery as well as further devices, which makes the whole thing much more complex and expensive. With a suitable automatic control that takes into account the current consumption in the household, excess energy can be temporarily stored and, with certain losses, retrieved as needed. A stand-alone system can also be used during power outages, as long as the storage capacity and irradiation are sufficient for recharging.