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Solar-Panels
7th August 2019

The Advantages of Solar Panels in your Smart Home


The last few years have been somewhat moody in terms of temperature in the UK, last summer was astonishingly harsh, and people are still shaking the heat off. The UK has faced some pretty hot summers, for example, back in 2017 during March’s last week the heat was so intense that it actually broke records of energy consumption. People were demanding less energy during daytime than at night, and this is due to solar panels. Solar power produced more electricity on that day than other energy sources. You can see how good this is for the environment and renewable energy and of course, for your budget.




As you know the Loxone Smart Home experience comes with a mini server designed to integrate with solar inverters, that way the energy you get through the photovoltaic panels (a.k.a solar panels) can be fully optimised to get a better usage to the power used in your house.
Something that most people don’t know about energy consumption is that most devices, even if they´re switched off, they still consume power, this includes TVs, Microwaves, phone chargers etc. Of course, they consume a lot less power than when they're on, but still, in the long run you´ll be affected by it on the electricity bill. Now, with the Loxone Smart Home experience you can definitely save energy and money, Loxone allows you to automatically switch off devices that are on standby mode, from afar, as you can see Loxone thinks about the planet and your wallet too.

So if you have an outstanding advanced control system for your solar panels, you will be able to have accurate readings of the overall load, then use this free solar electricity to operate various appliances. One of the most annoying things about solar panels is having to repurchase power from the grid at a much higher price than what it may be sold in the first place. The Loxone experience gives you plenty of confidence that this never happens again, as you can use it for solar water heating instead of selling it.



Energy Consumption Readings


Another benefit has the ability to control and monitor all of your house´s energy consumption, and also you can get readings on how much energy  your home is producing, and all this information is available just by accessing your Loxone smartphone app 24/7.


Moreover, the Loxone smart house experience allows you to choose an “all off” mode, which will put the house on guard and ready to protect. This mode is able  to perform many tasks. Including, setting up alarms, turn off appliances and powering down devices that are not being used.



Public electric car charger



Solar Panels and Electric Car Charging:


Both types of renewable energy are somewhat new to the market, but unlike solar panels, EV (Electric Vehicles) are becoming increasingly popular among the country, and the market only seems to be able to grow, not diminish.


Companies like Tesla are making endless efforts to introduce the EVs into the market, changing people's perception of electric cars and renewable energy, creating more awareness for the sake of the environment.


You can be a witness to this sudden change because even the black cabs are adopting this “new” form of renewable energy. You´ll start seeing them on electric and hybrid versions, meaning that they are also betting on the environment and convenience of this type of technology as opposed to the fuel-powered one.


But, how is the Loxone Smart Home experience capable of providing benefits to any EV owner? Well, as you may or may not know, Loxone uses and offers KEBA wall boxes (KEBA is a well-renowned manufacturer of car chargers). Naturally, you can integrate KEBA boxes to the whole Loxone Smart Home experience and here's how: 


Seamlessly go through your energy usage data: You don't have to scan the energy meter in order to know precisely how much energy your electric/hybrid vehicle consuming. The mini server can do this scrutiny for you as it can connect to your KOBE wall box to get accurate readings of the full charging including renewable energy consumption.





Statistics that are easy to read: 


Keeping the records of the electricity consumption at your house sounds like an important thing to know about, but most importantly to have that info on a friendly format that's easy to read. If you want to know precisely how much energy your new EV consuming,  you just need to open the Loxone Smart Home app. It will show your charging status, at what time you loaded your electric vehicle and of course, how much energy you're using to charge your car. All of this highly important data can be read in a clear, concise fashion. Everything is there for you to notice with just one quick glance.

Cost-effective: How fantastic is it to have the ability to charge your car, using the renewable energy that your solar panels are using.


For “Economy 7” areas (meaning those areas where energy prices are less expensive during off-peak hours), you can adjust the wall box, so it starts charging only when the low-cost tariff starts to apply.




Solar pannels on roof



SUMMARY


The use of renewable energy in the form of solar panels is a great solution, not just for the environment but to your budget as well. The Loxone Smart Home experience makes the best effort to blend the perfectness of Home Automation technology with environmental awareness. Take a closer look at Loxone to future-proof your property, saving the planet and saving money while doing it.