Croation Pilot Update

Bračak Manor has already been known as a place and an example of how to renovate a building under cultural heritage according to the highest standards of energy efficiency with the use of renewable energy. With the implementation of this pilot project – installed photovoltaic system and the battery system, Bračak Manor will be even more positioned on the map of excellence in energy efficiency.

Energy management of the versatile energy systems in the Bračak Manor including heating, cooling, energy production and storage will allow to investigate what the economically and ecologically most favourable technology mixes on historical sites are. The Photovoltaic and the battery system are connected to the billing metering point of the Bračak Manor where all produced energy is primarily used for own consumption and the surplus is stored in the battery system. If the production of electricity exceed the needs of Bračak Manor and the capacity of the battery system, then the surplus is delivered to the grid.

Projected annual production of the power plant is 11.340,00 kWh. In combination with the battery system, all the energy produced is used for the needs of the Bračak castle. In previous years, the building consumed an average of 24,312.67 kWh of electricity, and now this consumption will be reduced by 11,340.00 kWh or 46.4%.

Bračak pilot project should serve as an innovative good-practice example over the next years and as a model for simplified technical and economic implementation in cultural heritage and may lead as lighthouse pilot to a significant increase in the proportion of renewable energy sources in historic urban centres in Krapina-Zagorje county. The long-term goal is to show innovative materials and technology in reconstruction as a demonstrative example for other similar examples of cultural heritage and show that despite of strict conservation requirements a project of this type is possible.