Hot Water for Homes with Solar
Already have Solar or a SolarZero system ? Then you're most likely selling your power to Energy Retailers for little and buying it back at full rates to heat your hot water.
Maximise your self-consumption of Solar by prioritising your water heating rather than selling power back to your Energy Retailer.
With AC•Thor - Your spare solar heats your water instead of going to the grid, so you buy less power back.
AC•Thor Power Manager:
- Works with the solar system you already have, so you don’t need extra panels.
- Connects to your existing hot water cylinder and element.
- Uses only true surplus solar, after your home has taken what it needs.
- Tops up from the grid only when needed, and at times you choose.
- Ensures hot water 365 days a year.
A smart, European-engineered power manager that gets more value from the solar system you already own.
How the AC•Thor Power Manager works
Your solar powers Your home
Your existing solar panels and inverter keep running your lights, appliances, and batteries (if you have one) as normal.
AC•THOR spots your surplus
A WiFi Meter at your switchboard, or your compatible inverter or battery, tells the AC•THOR, moment by moment, how much power is about to be exported to the grid.
Surplus flows into your cylinder
Instead of exporting it, the AC•THOR sends that surplus to your cylinder’s element and adjusts smoothly from 0 to 3 kW to match exactly what’s spare.
Your cylinder acts as a giant thermal battery
Excess solar heats your tank to safe, higher temperatures (up to 70°C), storing more usable hot water, for the evening and the next morning.
You always have hot water
Set a minimum temperature and a time window. If the sun hasn’t done the job, the AC•THOR tops up from the grid only within that window, or on overnight off-peak rates. On sunny days your hot water is powered by solar you’d otherwise have sold cheaply back to Energy Retailers.
How Your Hot Water Cylinder Works
Your cylinder heats water with a simple 3,000 W element that’s either fully on or fully off.
Here’s what that means:
- It switches on whenever someone showers, whether the sun is shining or not.
- It often runs at night or early morning, when your solar is producting nothing.
- Meanwhile, at midday, your solar systems exports its spare power to the grid.
- You sell that power for a low rate, then buy it back later at the full retail price.
- Your cylinder is usually the biggest power-hungry appliance in your house.
Why this matters:
Hot water is often 30–50% of a home’s electricity use, yet a standard cylinder can’t tell when solar power is spare. Without a power manager, much of the value of your grid-tied system goes back to your retailer.
How AC•Thor changes that
The AC•THOR makes your existing cylinder solar-smart, so it soaks up surplus power the moment it’s available.
Uses exactly the surplus available
Whether you have 200 W or 3,000 W spare, the AC•THOR adjusts the element in smooth, stepless increments instead of switching it on and off at 3kW, so none of your surplus is wasted.
Your home always comes first
The AC•THOR only uses power that would otherwise be exported. Your appliances, and a home battery if you have one, still get first use of your solar.
Maximises solar all day long
When clouds pass or the jug goes on or off, the AC•THOR adjusts instantly, capturing every usable watt from morning to late afternoon.
Reliable hot water, every day
If a low-sun days leave the cylinder below the temperature you set, the AC•THOR tops it up from the grid at the times you choose. A one-touch boost button covers unexpected visitors.
Benefits of AC•Thor
- No pumps, diverters, or behaviour changes
- Uses your existing cylinder
- Automatically manages power with no need for apps or adjustments
- Fewer components than traditional solar hot water
- No inverter required
- Makes the biggest power user in your home dramatically cheaper to run
- Award-winning German-engineered Sol•Flare technology
- Minimal components, no moving parts
- Long life and extremely stable performance
- Nothing to service
- No whirring pumps or fans
- Generate your own hot water from sunlight
- Reduces exposure to rising daytime energy prices
- Hot water heating is the largest power load in most homes
- Sol•Flare slashes grid energy consumption for hot water
- Hot water becomes self-powered
- Eases pressure on New Zealand’s wider power supply
- Improves resilience during outages and times of heavy grid use
Best Practice:
How Households Overseas Do It
In European and Aussie markets, where solar export rates have fallen to zero, home owners with grid-tied solar follow a simple two-part approach:
Soak up surplus solar in hot water first, using a AC•Thor Power Manager. It's the lowest-cost way to store solar energy.
Then, add a battery later if there's still enough surplus to justify one.
This approach gets the most from the panels and system you've already paid for, keeps extra hardware to a minimum, and future-proofs your home as buy-back rates decline with more housholds adopting Solar.
OneEnergy follows this internationally proven model
Read more about AC•Thor
Get your free, no obligation quote now
Tell us about your solar system and hot water cylinder, and we’ll send a tailored proposal showing how the AC•THOR fits your home.
