A partnership formed between Electrolux Africa, the subsidiary of Swedish household appliances group Electrolux, and PowerOptimal, a supplier of energy management solutions, will bring cost-effective solar water heating solutions to the South African residential market.
This exclusive partnership will see the energy management firm’s Elon solar PV water heating technology sold alongside Electrolux’s Kwikot Superline electric water geysers.
With the deployment of the PowerOptimal Elon range, a customer can add solar capability to most standard electric geysers, without the need for an inverter or battery, the company explained.
The solar water heating solution can run entirely off the grid, or with grid AC power as backup.
In addition, it can be used by property developers for conformance to SANS 10400-XA’s Regulation XA2, which requires that at least 50% of the annual water heating requirement for all new buildings shall be from a source other than grid electricity.
Solar water heating made easy
According to the energy firm, the range enables direct connection of solar PV panels to standard electric geysers. “It requires no inverter and no batteries, offers a long lifespan and requires almost no maintenance, making it one of the lowest cost per unit of energy (kWh) solutions for water heating available on the market today,” the statement advised.
Mark Moyce, national sales and marketing director at Electrolux South Africa, said: “By including the Elon into our range of water heating solutions, we are offering developers, builders and all users of geysers a means to take advantage of the abundant solar resource we have in this country at a fraction of the cost.”
According to both parties the partnership makes perfect sense, as the organisations are an excellent cultural fit, the technologies integrate seamlessly, and the technical excellence from both are providing a technology solution designed to support and grow mass adoption of sustainable energy.
It is the most straightforward and most convenient means to take advantage of solar and traditional power in an existing solution, a press statement read.
