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Hybrid solar panels on a 19th century house – Auvergne (FR)
Mrs Zongo loves to appreciate the comfort her home has to offer. Situated at the top of a hill in the natural park of the Puy de Dôme, the house was built in the 19th century. While the outside of the house maintains its old structure, the inside has been completely renovated providing both charm and comfort as she works from home as an accountant.
She made the choice to install solar panels for environmental and economical reasons. Her installer suggested that she install our hybrid technology which completely met her interest in terms of efficiency and innovation. Thus, in November 2013, Madame Zongo installed 4 DualSun panels and 8 Centrosolar photovoltaic panels, all which are building-integrated (the panels are completely integrated into the roof of the house).
It’s getting hot in the center of France
Madame Zongo’s installation is equipped with monitoring sensors to track the thermal performance of the system, for example the temperature of the DualSun panels.
The image below illustrates the temperature of the panels and the temperature of the hot water tank for the month of January 2015.
The DualSun panels in the winter and in the summer
During winter months, we see that the temperature in the panels reaches 20°C-30°C, serving as a pre-heating system for the domestic hot water.
During the summer, the temperatures reach 50 – 60°C, largely surpassing the 38°C required for a nice shower !
While the DualSun panels meet 100% of hot water needs in the summer, there is never a risk of overheating which is common for traditional solar hot water panels. We see in the graph below that the maximum temperature reached was 65°C, during the month of July. Generally speaking, as tested during the certification process, DualSun panels have a stagnation or “max” temperature of 75°C whereas standard solar thermal panels can reach 150-200°C.
The choice of a trusted installer
The solar installation was realized by Mr. Semenzato from the company Sunciel, whom Madame Zongo already knew very well. Mr. Semenzato is a meticulous solar installer who has been involved in solar for many years, long before the “solar boom” in France. He discovered DualSun by an article he read in a solar magazine.
He was particularly attracted to DualSun by the way we created an intelligent way to combine photovoltaics and solar thermal on one panel! He also appreciated that the DualSun panel has European certifications and is building-integrated compatible.
Technical Information
| Characteristics | Family of 2 people |
| Application | Domestic hot water |
| Number of solar panels | 4 DualSun hybrid panels + 8 photovoltaic panels |
| Power output | 3kWp + 1,5kWth |
| Roof installation | Inroof mounting (EASY ROOF), south-east facing, 22° angle |
| Thermal system | 200L hot water tank with electric booster |
| Photovoltaic system | All electricity is sent to the grid and sold for a feed-in tariff |
| Installation date | Before 2015 |
Schematic of thermal system
Diagram of the installation on May 24, 2018 at 3:40 p.m.
