The SunOyster 16 (SO16) follows the sun all day long. Its parabolic mirrors concentrate the direct light onto a line. The receiver is located in this line and converts the radiation into heat in the case of the SO16 heat and into electricity and heat at the same time in the case of our patented hybrid receivers.
The SO16 can be installed on flat roofs (without building permit) or on the ground and with its temperatures of up to 170°C it is an economical alternative to conventional solar systems, especially in the commercial sector and for the generation of process heat.
The SO16 was certified with the Solar Keymark in July 2021 and placed on the so-called Bafa list of eligible systems. This means that buyers of the system can receive grants or repayment subsidies of 25 to 55% of the system costs.
The SunOyster 16 comes in two variants:
The plant is tracked by an electronic control based on the astronomical position of the sun throughout the day to harvest a maximum of solar energy. The control system closes the SO16 when the wind speed measured by the installed anemometer exceeds the stored value - on the ground usually at more than 55 km/h and on the roof, for example, at > 25 km/h already.
Solar energy systems on or at the house or on the garage or carport may be erected without a building permit or building notification. Exceptions sometimes apply on high-rise buildings. In contrast, a building permit is required for ground installations, because the rear mirror of the system is higher than 3 m when opened up. Distances from neighbors must be maintained.
The responsibility for permissibility under building law in individual cases lies with the customer. Furthermore, an electricity-generating system must be registered with the local network operator by the electrician setting up the system. And the customer must register an electricity-generating plant with the market master data register.
There are two types of funding for a solar heating system:
The "Bundesförderung effiziente Gebäude (BEG) - Einzelmaßnahmen" gives a subsidy of 25% on the total system costs of solar collectors for heating support in existing residential buildings, i.e. the costs of the solar system, the piping of the solar circuit, the solar station with solar pump for circulating the solar fluid in the solar circuit and the heat storage tank. For the replacement of a functioning oil, coal or night storage heating system, there is a bonus of another 10% of the system costs, so that one can then come to 35% in total. The Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (Bafa) is responsible.
For solar thermal heating support in existing non-residential buildings, the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) is responsible. Applications must be submitted before the system is purchased. See the overview at
https://www.bafa.de/DE/Energie/Effiziente_Gebaeude/Foerderprogramm_im_Ueberblick/foerderprogramm_im_ueberblick_node.html.
Furthermore, you could receive a low-interest loan of up to 150,000 euros per apartment from the KfW for a comprehensive energy renovation of an existing building that includes solar energy, and a repayment subsidy of 5% to 45% (KfW loan program 261, https://www.kfw.de/inlandsfoerderung/Privatpersonen/Bestandsimmobilie/Energieeffizient-Sanieren/Solarthermie/). Here, however, a building energy consultant from the list must always be consulted first (https://www.energie-effizienz-experten.de/).
For process heat, i.e., the use of more than 50 percent of the solar heat for processes, i.e., for the production, further processing or refinement of products or for the provision of services, Bafa provides subsidies of 55% of the system costs for small and medium-sized enterprises and 45% for larger enterprises under the so-called Module 2(https://www.bafa.de/DE/Energie/Energieeffizienz/Energieeffizienz_und_Prozesswaerme/Modul2_Prozesswaerme/modul2_prozesswaerme_node.html/ ).
Alternatively, KfW grants low-interest loans with repayment subsidies in the amount of the above-mentioned subsidies plusminus 50% of the system costs (KfW loan program no. 295, https://www.kfw.de/inlandsfoerderung/Unternehmen/Energie-Umwelt/F%C3%B6rderprodukte/Energieeffizienz-und-Prozessw%C3%A4rme-aus-Erneuerbaren-Energien-(295)/?redirect=497472/ ) .
The prerequisite for the subsidy in each case is the registration of the solar system in the list of eligible systems, which took place for the SunOyster 16 in 2021.
Does the SO16 need to be cleaned?
Over time, dirt can accumulate on the mirror side as well as on the rear side of the SO16 mirror, just as is the case on conventional PV modules. Due to the closed rest position of the mirrors, the mirror side only gets dirty relatively slowly. However, to optimize the yield by a few percentage points, the SO16 can be cleaned occasionally - for example, twice a year. This basically works like cleaning a window: So it's best to first spray it with a soft jet (not with a high-pressure cleaner) to remove coarse impurities. Then rub with a soft brush and mild cleaning agent, especially in the area of the lower aluminum profiles of pvplus PV modules. Finally, wipe off with a soft rubber lip to avoid lime marks from the water used.
Does the SO16 need to be serviced?
We aim for a scheduled maintenance interval of 5 years for the SO16 - much less frequently than for your car or heating system. Then the maintenance should cost around 300 euros per system.
Do you also sell electric batteries and are they worthwhile?
We also sell batteries, because they are often worthwhile for the customer. See our batterie site
How economical is the SO16?
The economic viability of the SO16 with its respective price including ancillary costs for substructure, transport and installation depends primarily on two factors: How much energy can the SO16 generate at the particular site and what is the value of that energy? The energy production of the SO16 has been described above [see variants of the SO16]. As far as consuming electricity yourself, you usually save 40 or 50 euro cents or even more per kilowatt hour of electricity consumption at present. For feeding electricity into the grid, on the other hand, there is at best little remuneration, so it may be worthwhile to increase your own consumption with the help of a battery (see FAQ on batteries), to optimize your own electricity consumption, to charge electric vehicles, or to use heating rods to drive the electricity into your own heat storage system. The value of heat is measured by the cost of alternative heat generation. Currently, the cost of the most common heat generator, gas, is often 15 Ct/kWh. The payback period for a SO16 without a loan is typically between 4 and 10 years. If debt capital is used (e.g. KfW loan - link to subsidies), the repayment period on the equity capital is often between 1.5 and 3 years.
Do I have to pay income tax on income from electricity generation?
Here, too, a distinction must be made between installations on the ground and installations on buildings:
In Germany, for plants on the ground applies that the income from electricity generation is generally subject to income tax. However, there is now an exception for systems up to 10 kWp: The Federal Ministry of Finance created a simplification rule for small photovoltaic systems in its letter dated October 29, 2021 (GZ IV C 6 - S 2240/19/10006 :006, DOK 2021/11171604). According to this, the tax office assumes without further examination that there is a hobby business that is irrelevant for income tax purposes if the operator declares in writing that he wishes to make use of the simplification rule and meets the requirements for this. The declaration is also effective for subsequent years. If you make use of the simplification rule, the otherwise possibly required, time-consuming forecast calculation is no longer necessary and you no longer have to prepare a profit determination - even for already existing installations. See in more detailMicrosoft Word - Merkblatt - Anpassung Einheit (bayern.de) .
As a result of the Annual Tax Act, investments related to the building are largely exempt from income tax. In detail, the following applies according to Section 3 No. 72 of the German Income Tax Act (EStG):
"Tax-exempt income and withdrawals related to the operation of
(a) photovoltaic systems installed on, at or in single-family dwellings (including outbuildings) or non-residential buildings with a gross installed capacity of up to 30 kW (peak) according to the market master data register; and
b) of photovoltaic systems existing on, at or in other buildings with an installed gross capacity according to the market master data register of up to 15 kW (peak) per residential or commercial unit,
a total of no more than 100 kW (peak) per taxpayer or co-entrepreneur. If income is generated pursuant to section 2(1), first sentence, number 2, and if the total income generated from this activity is tax-exempt pursuant to sentence 1, no profit shall be determined."
In practice, this means that almost all smaller solar plants are tax-exempt and no profit has to be determined; in contrast to open land, there is no right to choose here.
Do I get a feed-in tariff for electricity fed into the grid?
If you do not consume generated solar power yourself at the time of its generation, it is normally fed into the grid. For the remuneration of this feed-in, it is necessary to distinguish whether the system is located on the building or on the ground:
For small PV systems on the rooftop, one gets a modest feed-in tariff of currently effectively 8.2 euro cents per kWh. Of course, this is not much compared to the savings on electricity purchases (currently mostly around 50 euro cents per kWh of electricity for individuals) or gas purchases (e.g. 15 euro cents per kWh of gas). Therefore, it may be worthwhile to temporarily store the solar electricity in batteries [link to PV and batteries] and consume it at another time of the day, or to use it to heat one's own heat storage unit by means of a heating rod.
For small PV systems on the ground up to 20 kWp, there is also to be a feed-in tariff in the aforementioned amount if a PV system on the roof is not possible. However, the federal government still has to issue an implementing regulation for this. In other cases, there is no feed-in tariff.
Do I have to pay sales tax on the price of the SO16?
In Germany, trough the Annual Tax Act (§ 13 para. 3 UStG), the legislator has largely provided small PV systems and thus also the PVmover [linked] or pvplus with a VAT rate of 0 for the SO16, but not solar thermal systems! Thus, for the SO16 in principle a sales tax of 19% is to be paid, but not for the flanged pvplus. For this there are subsidies on the SO16 heat [linked above to the details of the subsidies], but not on pvplus. As a result, both become an economical purchase.
What does a SunOyster 16 cost?
The price of SO16 is a function of the number of pieces - for a larger process heat project or a local heat project we can make an attractive price. Please write us a message and we will contact you immediately.
Can the SO16 also be installed on the roof?
SunOyster Systems has installed SunOystern 16 on roofs in windy locations. Due to the flat protective position, the wind loads acting on the SO16 are limited and roof installation is possible. When the weight is distributed over the installation area, the roof load is around 30 kg/m².
Montag - Friday from 8 - 4 pm
