Hi
I work in Cool Power. To clarify some points:
Any grid-connected solar electricity (PV) system, or other micro generator (wind turbine etc.) will, at times, produce more electricity than you are using. This could be, for instance, on a sunny/windy day when you are not at home, or not using much electricity. Traditionally, this surplus electricity would 'leak' out to the grid, and, in Ireland, you wouldn't get paid for it.
In response, Cool Power developed a device called EMMA (Energy and Micro-generator Manager) that detects this surplus electricity and diverts it to uses in your home or business, rather than letting it be 'lost' to the grid. Such uses include 'energy stores' such as hot water, underfloor heating, storage heaters and so on. You then don't need to run these systems off grid electricity later on, hence you get full use of the electricity produced by your micro-generator and you reduce your electricity bills.
> Grants
There are a number of grants available for projects that involve solar PV:
http://www.coolpower.ie/benefits/grants.html
> Selling the surplus
Ireland's REFIT (Renewable Energy Feed-In Tariff) pilot scheme provides some payment for exported electricity, in limited cases:
[broken link removed]
However, allowing x units of your locally-produced surplus electricity to leak to the grid, only to reimport x units of grid electricity later in the day has disadvantages. You are paid less to export a unit than you pay to import a unit. Also, energy losses occur during the “double handling” of export and import. Overall, unnecessary import/export of electricity is inefficient, uneconomic and emissions unfriendly. The device I mentioned above, EMMA, addresses this, and makes the use of renewable energy in Ireland even more economical and attractive.
>Is there anyone out there who has installed this?
Solar electricity (PV) is becoming increasingly popular for home owners and businesses in Ireland - to reduce energy bills, emissions, improve BER, meet Part L of the new building regulations (renewable energy requirements) etc. There's a case study section on our website showing some domestic and commercial installations.
http://www.coolpower.ie/casestudies/index.html
Josephine