Among its full range of renewable heating systems at this year’s Ecobuild exhibition Smith’s Environmental Systems (SES) showcased its air-to-water heat pump and water-to-water heat pump systems that include photovoltaic and thermal (PV-Therm) hybrid panels.
Smith’s claims that its water-to-water heat pump system with PV-Therm panels which generate both electricity and domestic hot water for heating is the most efficient system of its kind in the UK.
The system specialist, which established its reputation with the manufacture of whisper-quiet, environmentally friendly fan convectors, has partnered with German renewables specialist Solarzentrum to introduce the PV-Therm panels to the UK.
The PV-Therm panels are a combination of photovoltaic (PV) technology (which converts sunlight into electricity) and solar thermal technology (which takes heat from the sun to heat a transfer fluid.)
Working with the company’s recently launched Ecolectric water-to-water heat pump unit, SES believes that the PV-Therm-based system could represent a step change for sustainable domestic heating and hot water.
The heat pump has been specially designed so that there is minimal vibration and virtually no noise which means that the heat pump is compact and quiet enough to be stored indoors.