Power-to-heat: heating with electricity has long been considered uneconomical and harmful to the climate. With the energy transition, the focus is once again on heat generation using self-generated green electricity. Both efficiency and cost-effectiveness are now under good auspices. Sector coupling is moving more and more into the spotlight and is already showing what our future green energy system can look like. (more…)
The association Connecting Continents e.V., based in Kirchroth/Germany, has been running a secondary school on Pemba, a small island belonging to Zanzibar/Tanzania in East Africa, for 15 years. A total of 300 pupils, half of them girls and a quarter orphans, attend the school, which is one of the best in the region. The school has been under the direction of headmistress Mrs. Bi Mwaache for many years. Together with her team, she helps students to obtain a state-certified degree every year. In order to concentrate even better on her work with the students, Mrs. Mwaache and her family have recently moved into a freshly finished house only 1 km away from the school. But the electricity supply in the region is very unreliable. Therefore, a photovoltaic system with a battery storage system has recently been installed, which supplies the family with CO2-neural solar power.
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In recent years a series of storms have swept across Europe. The list comprises some prominent storms in Germany like hurricane Niklas (2015), storm Xavier (2017), hurricane Friederike (2018), hurricane Sabine, and storm Victoria (both in 2020). During the last hurricane named Sabine, winds reached speeds of up to 177 km/h. Even in the lowlands, speeds of around 150 km/h could still be measured. This is a good enough reason for us to take a closer look at the calculation of PV systems. Because one thing is for certain – there will be more hurricanes on the way!
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