One or two testers wanted for a proportional boiler / water heater control device
Under my small own company named Sygnition I’ve developed a neat product over the last 12 months. I refer to the device as a dynamic power controller, since it is able to proportionally and dynamically control a resistive load, like a boiler / water heater.
Use case is for example a house system with excessive solar energy: The controller is capable of constantly adjusting a boiler’s power based on the house’s actual spare energy, which would otherwise have to be fed back to the grid (which in some countries you get billed for).
It works efficiently & fast and is relatively small & affordable, since it doesn’t do AC/DC conversion or phase angle modifications that would require transformers/filters/coolers etc.
The controller is equipped with a P1 port to directly hook up to an energy meter; that way it can run fully stand-alone.
However, it also features MQTT via WiFi, for users that prefer to drive it via home automation (e.g. Cerbo + NodeRED); via MQTT the user is free to send a direct power setpoint and tie it to anything one desires, or let the controller track a provided meter target, using a provided or hard-wired meter feedback.
The prototype was succesfully tested a while back, and now I’ve made three first copies, aimed to be tested by other people in real installations. The Victron community seemed to be a logical place to ask.
The ideal candidate(s):
- Lives in the Netherlands;
- Has a grid-connected house with a ESMR/DSMR smart energy meter equipped with a P1 port (Enexis’ Sagemcom XS210 works for sure);
- Has a single-phase plain boiler or water heater (it can’t have any electronics), installed not too far away from the energy meter (ór further away on a dedicated circuit);
- Is able to connect the controller itself and (if needs be) wire up a provided power plug to their boiler;
- Understands that a test device might fail to work or respond unexpectedly;
- (not strictly required but helpful for different test modes): Has a Victron Cerbo GX or alike and skilled enough to make own flows in NodeRED. Such candidates would also be able to use the controller for off-grid installations.
There is no reward or gain or anything, but you get to try a device that might just be what you were looking for, now that the Dutch government decided to end the ‘netting scheme’. You can send me a private message or post your interest below. Thanks!