The world's first energy-self-sufficient apartment house (photo) is located in Bruetten near Winterthur in Switzerland and produces more renewable energy than the residents need – without them having to limit themselves. The conclusion is consistently positive more than five years after the first moving in. At the beginning of 2016, the so-called energy-saving house in the canton of Zurich was the first of its kind, which made it a role model.
In the lighthouse project of Umwelt Arena AG, Proton Motor Fuel Cell GmbH was responsible for the reconversion of the stored hydrogen into electricity as well as for feeding the electrical energy into the DC circuit. As the European market leader for climate-neutral power supply and storage systems, the Bavarian company has created the basis with its innovative PEM fuel cell technology so that this building does not require any thermal or electrical energy supply from the outside. All thermal and electrical energy is drawn from the sun. It is evenly distributed throughout the building through all seasons by means of various forms of storage such as short and seasonal storage.