Due to relevant rules, 600 watts is the norm in the still-expanding balcony power industry; nevertheless, a Priwatt model outperforms the norm with 1,600 watts.
Balcony power plants in Germany are now only allowed to produce up to 600 watts of power; any more cannot be connected to the grid.
Inverters are used to reduce this down to 600 watts if necessary, allowing for the maintenance of this value even at increased current flow. These 600 watts, however, are not always possible, for instance when the sun is too low in the sky or there is a lot of cloud cover.
Balcony power plants with three or more solar modules are available to combat this, but it has only recently been possible for inverters to regulate the modules to the feed-in limit even with the higher number.
One of them comes from the Leipzig-based business Priwatt, which just added the priFlat Quattro to its range of innovative solutions. One of the most potent balcony power plants available, with a staggering 1,640 Wp total output.
Four modules with 410 Wp and an upgradeable inverter
The priFlat Quattro is essentially built around four Risen Titan S solar modules, each of which can provide up to 410 Wp of electricity and should still function admirably even in low light thanks to half-cell technology.
However, due to its size, Priwatt only permits the 1600-Watt power plant to be erected on stands ex works, making the flat roof or garden the most likely locations for use.
The aforementioned inverters, which have the capacity to handle the number of solar modules, are part of the whole set that Priwatt has on hand.
These inverters are the TSUN TSOL-MS600, which can currently handle up to 600 watts of feed-in power.
The inverters will subsequently be able to be adjusted to the new feed-in limit via a free software update. However, there are presently speculations that the legal maximum may be extended to 800 watts.
The priFlat Quattro has a suggested retail price of 1,429 euros, which is a lot more expensive than typical balcony power plants.
High cost or high effectiveness?
As a result, it is challenging to categorize the priFlat Quattro’s real level of quality.
Of course it’s fantastic to have the ability to provide continuously at the feed-in limit, but for the majority of houses, a conventional system with 600 or 800 watts is also adequate.
The manufacturer’s claimed payback period of 3.5 to 7 years is also an estimate; we think it will take the priFlat Quattro five to six years before it truly pays for itself.