Home Heating and Electricity Generation Technology based on Solar Thermal Stirling Engine Fundamentals

BDR Thermea’s philosophy is to combine the best of both the former DeDietrich-Remeha Group and Baxi Group. 2010 marks the year when the new company launches its next generation of Micro Combined Heat and Power (microCHP) appliances. Branded Remeha and Baxi, these units have created a stir and herald a new era in home heating and power generation.

Similar in size to a domestic boiler, and based on Stirling engine technology, the Remeha eVita and Baxi Ecogen microCHP units provide a long-awaited alternative to a gas boiler. The technology significantly increases energy efficiency by simultaneously meeting demand for space heating and hot water whilst providing electricity to supplement or replace the grid supply. The electricity produced is used in the home, with any excess being delivered back to the electricity grid. As a result our customers can make significant savings – by reducing both CO2 emissions and energy costs.

Conventional means of producing and delivering electricity to the home (coal and gas-fired power stations) can be as low as 35% efficient, so microCHP makes more efficient use of energy resources. This compares to field trials of the eVita and Ecogen, which achieved overall efficiency exceeding 107% (energy out compared to energy in). With annual electricity generation of 2400 kWh, these installations delivered financial savings of €400, with associated CO2 savings of 1 tonne. BDR Thermea has clearly demonstrated the potential for microCHP to deliver significant environmental and economic benefits.

The Stirling-based appliances are part of BDR Thermea’s suite of microCHP solutions that include internal combustion and fuel cell-based products. With over 20 years’ experience our solutions have already saved over 1.35 million of tonnes of CO2 for users.

The UK launch of the Baxi-branded Ecogen in April 2010 was bolstered by the UK government’s launch of tariffs payable for the electricity produced by Ecogen users.

In developing its approach to supporting small-scale low- and zero-carbon technologies, the UK government drew largely on experiences in other European countries. For instance, in Germany the BDR Thermea subsidiary, SenerTec, has helped to stimulate support for Dachs. In this market a combination of consumer attitudes to saving energy and financial rewards, has driven uptake of new technologies.

With current installed costs of microCHP being higher than that of conventional boilers mass-market uptake will be driven partly by cost as well as government regulation. The approach to supporting microCHP varies by country so for BDR Thermea it makes sense to initially concentrate on those markets that offer support to drive uptake of microCHP – hence the focus on Germany, Netherlands and the UK. In these, and other markets, we continue to work to explain to national and EU governments the contribution that microCHP can make to enable them to meet their environmental goals – for energy and emissions reduction.

With extensive experience in microCHP, including an expanding range of available solutions, BDR Thermea is underlining the company’s claim to “be first”.

Short URL: http://www.solarthermalmagazine.com/?p=2946

Posted by Tracey A. Smith on Aug 15 2010. Filed under Solar Consumer, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry