Digital Input to limit or dimm electrical power consumtion due th german §14a EnwG ?

[JohnDow466]

Will there be an option for an digital Input signal? Due to German law §14a EnwG the electrical power consumption has to be limited to less than 4.2kW if a digital signal is set by electricity network operator.
thx

[IgorYbema]

I could look into this. Please let me know how you would like to receive the input and how you think you then could react on the change of the input like changing the power consumption?

[IgorYbema]

I just asked chatgpt if a DIY solution would be approved for that german law and it says it isn't. It says that the solution most work reliable and therefore must be certified. The certified solution for the aquarea heatpump is the SG-ready connection with the optional pcb I believe. So any method using a digital input on the heishamon to control the heatpump consumption would not make it certified.
Or is chatgpt wrong here?

[mascheihei-all]

For most Panasonic heat pumps, a solution is already available.
In the unlikely event that a §14a EnWG control signal (power limitation to 4.2 kW) is received, the electric heater can be switched off, ensuring that the system remains below the 4.2 kW limit.

This control is not implemented via SG Ready.
Instead, it is handled through an external compressor control switch.

Preparation:
Set DIP switch 3 to ON (see service manual, section 14.24).

DIP 3 ON means that only the heater is switched, not the entire system.

Emulate the optional PCB.

If the control signal from the control box (“Steuerbox”) is available via
switch.panasonic_heat_pump_commands_setcompressorstate, you can control whether the heater is allowed or blocked.

In my view, this approach is sufficient to comply with §14a EnWG.
According to my understanding, the operator is responsible for ensuring compliance with the 4.2 kW limit and for documenting the switching action. This documentation and control can be reliably achieved using a home automation system (e.g. Home Assistant, ioBroker, etc.).

[IgorYbema]

Really depends on which model you have to have only the heater turned off (using the external control switch). Some heavy models can do more than 4.2kW on the compressor. The SG ready can then be used to slow it down more.
However my question was about if using home automation and DIY equipment like heishamon would be allowed by that german law. I would assume that everything should be certified or something like that.

[mascheihei]

The following reflects my understanding of the current requirements.

There are two possible ways to comply with §14a EnWG:

Via an Energy Management System (EMS) using EEBUS
In this case, the EMS must be certified.

Via a relay-based solution
When using relays, the end user/operator is responsible for ensuring compliance.

[IgorYbema]

Ok so using the relays (signal provided by the DSO?) you can do whatever you like? How does the law then provides a check to see if your equipment does what it should do? Do you need to proof that you wired the relay to the heatpump (in this case heishamon) and do you need to show how it works (for example rules in heishamon)? Or is it just your responsability but they never check?

[IgorYbema]

Also, I believe that setting a Quiet mode already lowers the compressor consumption so if a DIY solution is allowed, just set a Quiet mode level and check if that keeps it below 4.2kW

[geduxas]

SG Ready is for SolarGrid, it's dray contact and used to increase it's consumption, not ti limit (i think) also there is demand control (0-10V input) which is suppose to be exactly what it is.. for limiting compressor current, but again, need to use current has higher privilege than limiting it.. by doing some investigation on myself with expansion board and 0-10V controller i can say that achievements are almost same as using quiet mode.. so truly don't know exactly how and where this should be implemented..

[IgorYbema]

No SG Ready stands for SmartGrid Ready. It is a two bit input which defines in which pre-set capacity the heatpump should run. So just like the 0-10v but then digital set.