With the abolition of the net metering scheme and the growing issues surrounding grid congestion, it has become increasingly important to look ahead. With this forward-thinking vision in mind, a household in Schinnen, Limburg turned to our Dutch partner Jacobs Solar and decided to implement a future-proof solution from Fronius.
Energy independence as the goal
The goal of the installation was not the payback time, but energy independence. Given the growing challenges regarding grid congestion, the household wanted the ability to switch to island mode. This means that a home battery, in combination with a backup solution, could take over the main power supply in the event of a power outage.
This led the household to Richard Jacobs of Jacobs Solar, a service partner of Fronius and partner of IBC SOLAR. With over ten years of experience, he was able to provide a solution that met the household’s needs, in collaboration with IBC SOLAR, which supplied the Fronius products. IBC SOLAR not only provided the necessary components such as the Fronius inverters, but also the expertise to implement a future-proof, reliable system.
Successful commissioning
The system consists of 21 solar panels installed in an east-west orientation, connected to a Fronius GEN24 Symo 8.0 inverter and a BYD home battery with a capacity of 12.8 kWh. A Fronius automatic backup controller detects a power outage within one second and switches to emergency power supply from the battery. The system was installed in January of this year, despite some challenges due to the weather during that time of the year. Since then, it has been operating successfully for over six months. During this time, there have already been three power outages in the neighborhood, all of which were seamlessly taken over by the backup controller – so the lights stayed on!
Forward-looking in the industry
“The choice for Fronius is simple, they offer a complete portfolio of high-quality products that are manufactured in Europe, which made this concept easy to implement,” explains Richard Jacobs, owner of Jacobs Solar. “I am also very pleased with their excellent customer service”, he adds.
Currently, we are seeing a clear trend in the industry towards complete systems that go beyond just photovoltaic installations. People are preparing for a world after net metering and the problems of grid congestion. Especially after 2028, it is expected that power outages will become more frequent in the Netherlands.