The Swedish manufacturer of the Aira heat pump develops new hardware and software, including an inverter, in an attempt to launch an extensive energy management system (EMS).
Spend against PV -Magazine As part of a media tour by Aira’s R&D facility in Helsingborg, Sweden, Chief Product and Technology Officer Kaj, said that the project is in active development. “We both work on the hardware and the software and start to prepare optimization, so it’s certainly an active project,” he said.
Aira will not produce PV panels for his entire home proposal, but Kleen revealed that the company is developing its own inverter in Sweden. “The reason we do this is because – it is the same logic as for the heat pump – if you want to do something very well, you must have access to all controls, all sensors, the firmware,” Kleen explained. “That requires iterative development, engineers who sit together, do real work and that is best done together in a room, not about the ocean.”
Full details of the in development of AIRA are not yet available, but Kleen said that the company uses a modular approach, instead of designing an inverter that is packaged with storage of battery energy.
“We think more modular and the reason is that we want the large reach as we can get possible. A little more modular gives us the opportunity to fit these products in cellars, garages, attics if you want. It is therefore advantageous for us not to put everything in one unit. It is also about being able to add if you want two batteries or want to scale the solution or add more solar panels. Our system is very modular. “
AIRA is planning to eventually offer consumers a complete package for household energy that integrates its heat pump product with solar energy, storage of battery energy and charging electric vehicles. CEO of the company Martin Lewerth told Visiting Media that the company wants to be the Spotify of heat pumps, referring to the leading streaming service of Sweden.
Launched in 2024, the range of the AIRA heat pump consists of 6 kW, 8 kW and 12 kw outdoor units with seasonal performance coefficient (SCOP) assessments of 4.7 by 35 C. The maximum cooling capacity at 35/18 C is 8 kW and 10 kW for the 6 kW and 8 kW models, respectively, with the 12 kW rated on 13 kW. AIRA heat pumps use a power supply of 230 V and dimensions include 121.6 cm x 100.5 cm x 45 cm for the 6 kW and 8 kW variant and 115.2 cm x 150.3 cm x 41.6 cm for the 12 kW. The coolant used is propane (R290).
Aira’s specifications for the heat pump record A noise level of 57 dB for all heat pumps in the range and the company offers every model to consumers with a 15 -year “comfort” guarantee.
The inner offer from AIRA consists of an “all-in-one” unit that combines a hot water tank and performance optimizer. The indoor unit is available in variants of 100 L and 250 L and the company also offers a compact hydrobox product. Systems also include an AIRA thermostat, as well as a selection of buffer tanks and hot water cylinders.
Although Aira’s heat pump technology does not radically differ from other products on the market, the company tries to distinguish itself by using a fully in-house model from sales and installation to optimization. AIRA produces its heat pumps in a facility in Wroclaw, Poland, and it has staff on the ground in the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy – important target markets for the company.
Customers who install an AIRA heat pump will have access to the AIRA Intelligence EMS platform of the brand. It is this integration of hardware and software that Kaj Kleen thinks that the company distinguishes and he argued that it provides performance and reliability benefits for consumers.
“One of the benefits of building hardware and software as an integrated solution is that you have access to the entire stack: sensors, all controls,” he said. “What we are really proud of is to do energy -cost optimization without endangering comfort.”
The Aira Cpto told PV -Magazine That the company monitors the data coefficient (COP) data (COP) for heat pumps after installation and the heat pumps have been optimized to achieve the desired temperatures without harming components, and the example cited of overtime compressors as a way to achieve short -term performance, but to sacrifice with life on the product. .
As an example of the United Kingdom, Kleen said that in November and December Aira reached an agent of 3.95 over the entire base of British heat pumps.
That number can be determined with a high degree of accuracy, according to Aira’s chief scientist Jeff Chen, because the company samples sensors on its heat pumps on high frequency. Chen told PV -Magazine A heat pump installation will have “about 15 sensors”, depending on the model. The most important sensors include indoor and outdoor temperature, power temperatures and compressor speed.
“They feed derivative measures in the subsystems, the regulation and the heat curve, involving various points on the heat curve,” said Chen. “Then we look at other derivative measures such as energy balance. This activates other subsystems to kick in, such as defrost mode. “
For the time being, AIRA optimizes the energy consumption of households through heat pumps with utility partners in important markets that offer dynamic rates that support optimization for using use of use. When Aira starts integrating solar, storage, inverter and EV chargers in his EMS platform, Chen said that things are becoming exciting and AI will be the key to effective managing of houses.
“I think it is the only interesting thing to point out for optimization is that you work with heat pumps with a slower thermodynamic system. Power -Omvolers? These are electrons that I have to manage in split seconds, that policy cannot change so quickly, “said Chen. “From an AI perspective, it is actually just on the way to learning reinforcement and agent-based learning.”
The author traveled to Sweden as a guest of Aira.
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