ratiotherm Heizung und Solartechnik Gmbh & Co. 

OSKAR MAX SOL² is a highly efficient, solar combined hybrid heat pump. Its basic principle is an outside air heat pump; it achieves a uniquely high level of efficiency by being combined with a solar system. The system serves as a complete heating system 365 days of the year; an ecological as well as economically sound alternative to conventional fuels, such as oil, gas or pellets. With the new hybrid heat pump, considerably higher coefficients of performance (COP) can be achieved, as the temperature in the evaporator is increased by the solar system. Furthermore, the yield of a solar collector system can also be practically doubled.

The difference lies in the intelligent combination of an outside air heat pump, solar system and the OSKAR stratified storage tank to make up a highly efficient system.  Energy sources from solar collectors and outside air are combined with the refrigeration circuit of a heat pump in a new kind of evaporator unit. There is also option to connect other sources of energy. The system's coefficient of performance (COP) is between 4 and 5, which is considerably higher than a traditional air source heat pump; this is also higher than the coefficients of a ground and water heat pumps.

From an ecological point of view, supply energy to the heat pump is extracted from the ambient air, (the atmosphere) directly counteracting global warming The use of electricity as the driving energy is justifiable, because using this electricity as one part of the hybrid heat pump allows four to six times the amount of heating energy to be produced.

This option is available for most applications, as no new additional source of energy has to be provided and an existing heating system can be adapted by extending effective heating surfaces. The specially developed evaporator unit is registered at the German and European patent office.