Can one house supply two other houses?

What alternatives would there even be if you want to improve the existing houses? The roof surfaces are quite jagged due to dormers, so there are hardly any areas for photovoltaics and solar thermal. This would of course not be a problem with the new house.

Solar roof tiles are suitable for jagged roofs. The investment is worthwhile during the next roof renovation; I would not tear down a relatively new roof for this purpose.

And I'm also not quite sure if the principle "producing electricity in summer and buying it in winter" works, because if everyone does that, we'll have a surplus in summer and scarcity in winter.

Exactly right: in the long run, that is nonsense. That is why the feed-in tariff decreases with the increase of photovoltaic systems. The next step is to store the excess energy for winter, for example in hydrogen, which is obtained from air using electrical energy and stored. A small engine then burns the hydrogen in winter and produces about two-thirds heat energy and one-third electricity.

Hi

Possible would be, for example, a pellet boiler as a heat generator, district heating pipes to every house, and there a transfer station that also takes care of the hot water preparation. Each residential unit is easy to bill, can heat according to the building and user behavior, and problems with drinking water hygiene are not to be expected.

Olli

For example, a pellet boiler, district heating pipes to each house, and a transfer station there that also handles hot water preparation could be possible as a heat generator.
Each residential unit is easy to bill, can heat according to the building and user behavior, and problems with drinking water hygiene are also not to be expected.

But with pellet heating systems, there is of course the fundamental problem of fine dust pollution; the regulations will surely be tightened in the coming years. And it takes quite a long time for the burned wood to regrow.

The next step is then to store the excess energy for winter, for example in hydrogen, which is produced from air using electrical energy and stored. A small engine then burns the hydrogen in winter and produces about two-thirds heat energy and one-third electricity.

Is that already suitable for single-family homes or still science fiction? I have already seen larger industrial plants, but when will something like this be available and affordable for private individuals? Is a breakthrough expected in the next five years? I can definitely imagine it being interesting to produce hydrogen with solar power during the summer and then burn it in winter. Would it be possible to accumulate such an amount over months and would that be sufficient for the winter?

So far, battery storage (for example from former electric car batteries) can only be considered a short-term storage, i.e., perhaps for a few days. But with hydrogen electrolysis, that could certainly work over a longer period.

Then perhaps supplying three houses with such a system would also be possible. However, I would prefer to have something like that outside the residential buildings...

Matthias

But with pellet heating systems there is of course the fundamental problem of fine dust pollution, and the regulations will surely be tightened in the coming years. And it takes quite a long time for the burned wood to regrow.

Fine dust is a matter of combustion control with pellet heating systems. That is not a big deal. The pellets must of course be sustainable. We will heat with wood from our own forest (basic stove). Much more grows back annually than we need, although we only have a little more than one hectare of mixed deciduous forest in the "garden."

Is that already suitable for single-family houses or still science fiction? I have already seen larger industrial plants, but when will something like that be available and affordable for private individuals? Is a breakthrough expected in the next five years? I can well imagine that producing hydrogen with solar power during the summer, which is then burned in winter, could be interesting. Could something like that be stored over months, and would it be enough for the winter?

It is still science fiction. I expect the first purchasable systems for private individuals in five years, but not a breakthrough yet. Enough can be stored for the winter months. Suitable tanks already exist; they just need to become cheaper.

So far, battery storage (for example from former electric car batteries) can only be considered a short-term storage, maybe for a few days. But with hydrogen electrolysis, it could certainly work over a longer period.

We use batteries to get through the nights during the production months without thinking and, thanks to hybrid inverters, to operate large consumers (sauna, ceramic kiln, instantaneous water heater) with as little power purchase as possible. The hydrogen addition will come as soon as the technology is mature and reasonably affordable. We are not "first movers" but "early followers." For several houses, an ice storage heating system is also highly interesting.

Is still something for the future.

In my opinion, it is still more of a utopia. I don’t see decentralized production and storage of hydrogen being marketable for private individuals within 5 years. Pure hydrogen as a gaseous energy carrier is unfortunately not quite trivial and somewhat more demanding than LPG (keyword Rettenbach) and CNG/natural gas.

Certainly not uninteresting would be the already mentioned local heating solution. Heat demands and operational management would need to be looked at in detail, but such a combined heat and power plant can certainly be a solution.

I have now read through the ice storage. Why is this particularly interesting when you want to supply multiple houses? To me, it sounds more like something for highly insulated houses with low flow temperatures again, because a heat pump is involved once more.

Matthias