Function
The hot water diverter feature page enables you to model savings and energy flows by diverting excess solar to the hot water system, using a diverter such as Catch Green, AC Thor, etc.
SolarPlus calculates how much excess solar energy is available for use by the hot water diverter, and optionally tops up / boosts from the grid on days when there is not enough sun.
When grid boost is selected, if the target kWh/day is not reached by solar by the time that the grid boost is available, (ie if it is cloudy, or the other loads are too high), then the remainder of the target kWh/day is drawn from the grid at the time you specify. Therefore, it is recommended to specify that grid boost starts in late afternoon or evening, or during off peak tariff times.
Current scenario
In this section, you can enter the details of the existing hot water energy consumption scenario. The details in this section need to specify the time at which the hot water system is currently operated.
Proposed scenario
In this section, you can enter the details of the proposed scenario. The details in this section need to specify the proposed time for the hot water diverter to operate and the load details.
Time ranges
The time ranges can be entered at an hourly level on the 24-hour clock. To specify multiple ranges for the same weekday, click on “+Weekly Range”.
Click on the “Copy weekday to weekend” button to copy the same ranges from the weekday to the weekend.
Load and energy
Enter the maximum capacity of the load in kW and the average energy consumed by the load per day in both the current and the proposed scenario. If you are swapping the hot water element, then put the new element size in the Proposal Load Scenario.
As a guide for how much energy is used for hot water in a home:
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Low = 4kWh/day
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Average = 6kWh/day
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High = 10kWh/day
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Very High = 20kWh/day
Price basis
The options available to select are:
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Regular tariff rate - this will use the grid tariff that is applicable at that time, whether it be a flat rate, or Time of Use rate, as specified on the Energy page.
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Controlled load rate - this will use the controlled load tariff as specified on the Energy page. This applies to loads such as controlled load hot water and underfloor heating.
Load Profile
Click on the “In addition to load profile” checkbox if the load details mentioned are not a part of the consumption profile loaded on the Energy page.
- If “In addition to load profile” is not checked, make sure there is enough power in the consumption profile, as the load will activate only when the power is equal to or greater than the kW power value set in this section.
- If “In addition to load profile” is checked, you are adding additional loads and therefore adding more cost to the before scenario. The total energy consumption on the reports page will be the load profile from the Energy page, plus the load from the Smart Energy profile.
- If you are comparing a quote without a Smart Energy Profile to one that has a Smart Energy profile, make sure that the energy consumption on both are the same.
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