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May 2016
Energy Efficiency, Green Building & IBTs
T
he solution allows residential
users to improve efficiency in
their overall energy usage, gen-
erate their own energy and also store
extra solar electricity for everyday
use or for backup/electricity security.
According to Alan Matthews, Man-
aging Director of Energy Partners
Home Solutions, this product is the
country’s first integrated battery and
inverter solution specifically for the
South African home market and has
the potential to minimise the user’s
dependence on the national energy
grid. “We believe it is going to revo-
lutionise howSouth Africansmanage
and store their energy at home.”
He explains that the company
embarked on developing the product
to assist South African home owners
with a solution to control their energy
spend, especially when subjected to
unreliable supply during load shed-
ding by Eskom. “Like our corporate
Residential energy solution
Energy Partners Home Solutions has announced the launch of South
Africa’s first-of-its-kind residential energy solution - the Icon Home
Energy Hub.
clients, they too were at the mercy of
tariff increases. But, unlike corporate
clients, they did not have teams of
engineers and strong financial skills
to draw on.”
He added that the company spent
18 months creating this solution for
homeowners. “Our solution enables
home owners to take control of their
energy, by supplying a set of reli-
able products that form a full home
energy solution, which combines
lighting, water heating and renew-
able energy.”
The Energy Partner’s solution
enables a family sized home to save
up to 70% of its electricity bill and
earn from a 16% return on their
investment. “That is twice the sav-
ing a standard solar solution would
provide,” says Matthews.
The Icon Home Energy Hub con-
sists of two components: the Energy
Hub Inverter and the Lithium Ion
Phosphate Battery. “The inverter is a
critical component in any solar en-
ergy solution. Its main function
is to take the electricity gen-
erated (DC) from the solar
panels and convert it into
an energy form that can
be utilised in the home (AC).
The inverter also integrates
with the battery to allow all excess
generated energy tobe stored in the
batteries for later usage.”
The full household solution
includes: the Icon hybrid inverter;
3.1 kWp poly crystalline panels;
Icon 3.6 kWh LiFePO4 battery; 300
litre tank with a total average storage
capacity 16 kWh; a 4.7 kWheat pump;
mounting structure to mount the
panels on the roof and the balance
of the system.
The most recognisable global
competitor to the Icon is the Tesla
Powerwall battery, paired with a
solar edge inverter, he says. “When
this product was launched in South
Africa recently it received a lot of
attention, but the Tesla solution is
focussed around the battery – which
is 6.4 kWh. Our solution includes a
smaller battery, but also includes
a heat pump and an extra-large
hot water tank. This means that it
delivers almost double the saving
and costs less.” Matthews says that
besides the energy bill reduction
benefit, the solution also reduces the
homeowner’s carbon footprint and
environmental impact andmakes the
user independent of the grid. “The
user can power essential loads for
several hours, even if the grid is off,
a feature that is simply not possible
with grid-tied inverters.”
The solution is extremely flex-
ible. For example, it can be installed
without batteries and then 3.6 kWh
or 6 kWh of battery capacity can be
added as needed. It also includes a
remotemonitoring platformallowing
the user tomonitor the status of their
systemdirectly on their mobile app.”
“We are currently only installing in
theWestern Cape, but plan to launch
inGauteng before the end of 2016. We
are currently accepting orders and
our first products will ship in June
2016,” concludes Matthews.
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