Hanjo Osthues is a photovoltaic pioneer.
Actually, he had nothing to do with renewable energies.
But he was quickly convinced.
Geretsried
- A row of terraced houses in a quiet residential area in Gartenberg: At first glance, nothing looks extraordinary here.
In fact, a Geretsrieder photovoltaic pioneer lives there: as early as 1997, long before the call for renewable energies was loud, Hanjo Osthues was one of the first to have a solar system built on his house.
In 2001 a photovoltaic system (PV system) was added.
Satisfied, with his hands on his hips, the 59-year-old stands in his garden and looks up at the roof: the solar thermal system sits enthroned on the left, the photovoltaic system on the right (see box).
"Since we have had the solar system, our hot water supply has been secured," he proudly reports.
"We", that is Hanjo Osthues and his wife Sabine.
When the weather is less sunny, a heat pump in the boiler room steps in.
Osthues, however, sells the electricity generated by the PV systems to an energy company.
Article piqued his interest
Originally Osthues had little interest in regenerative energies.
But Geretsrieder is an avid newspaper reader.
“I read something about solar systems somewhere in the 90s.
And that you can save a lot on gas costs, ”he recalls.
His interest was piqued.
He read up on the subject - a little later, the 7,300 euro solar system was on the roof.
“The gas savings are enormous.
I noticed that in the first year. "
At that time, Geretsrieder had not yet given a thought to photovoltaic systems.
That came later, through an advertisement of PH supply from energy giant Eon.
"The feed-in contract was relatively high." Osthues struck and bought a PV system for 3200 euros.
Since then, he has been paid around 50 cents per kilowatt hour generated.
After 20 years, however, this contract expires next autumn.
"Then I want to switch over and use the electricity myself," reveals Osthues.
A look into the basement of the house: there are two white boxes hanging on the wall.
The smaller one is the so-called inverter.
In the big one there is, among other things, the electricity meter.
A thin red stripe whizzes through a bar there.
“It's going well here right now,” commented Osthues.
The currently generated energy output can also be read here.
"We have a total output of 1.08 kilowatts peak here," says Osthues.
"So the harvest is pretty good."
We are a people of over 80 million people.
If everyone contributed their little part to it, our planet would already be of great help.
Hanjo Osthues
About once a month the Geretsrieder checks in the cellar to see if everything is working or if repairs are pending.
Speaking of repairs: the 59-year-old got off quite well on this point.
Last autumn, the performance of the PV system suddenly decreased more and more.
“That was really fatal.” A tradesman discovered that the inverter was broken.
Even the photovoltaic panels were no longer the very best after almost 20 years - and were also replaced.
Osthues now knows: “Compared to then, the PV systems have improved significantly.
The power output is now significantly better. ”Otherwise, no repairs have been made so far.
Have Osthues' investments paid off in the meantime?
Geretsrieder cannot answer this question.
“I never calculated that.
I didn't care either.
For me the whole thing has more of an ideal effect, ”he clarifies.
What counts for him: doing something for the environment through his systems "on a small scale".
“We are a people with over 80 million people.
If everyone did their small part, our planet would be of great help. "
Solar thermal and photovoltaics
With solar thermal energy, collectors on the roof capture solar radiation.
They then convert this into thermal energy before a storage unit absorbs the heat.
Depending on the size of the system, it can then be used for hot water preparation or for heating support.
According to the website of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, solar thermal energy can save around 800 kilograms of CO2 annually for heating and hot water in an average single-family home.
When light falls on the solar cells, the photovoltaic systems generate direct current.
This is converted to alternating current with the help of an inverter.
Thanks to the conversion, the alternating current can be fed directly into the public or privately used power grid.
There are even more local stories in our weekly regional newsletter for Wolfratshausen, Geretsried and the region.