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Are fines due when operating balcony power plants?

Photovoltaics are great. Solar is trending. With a balcony power plant, it has never been so easy to reduce your own electricity bill. Wouldn't that be a small problem...

Author: Walter Feichtinger

Are fines due when operating balcony power plants? Article image: Pexels
Are fines due when operating balcony power plants? Article image: Pexels

*** Update: Penalties for balcony power plants have been abolished, see below ***

Rising energy prices and no end in sight. It is very tempting to produce the electricity you need yourself. But not everyone has the opportunity to operate a large solar system on their own roof. Small power plants on your own balcony are an option in such cases: They are very easy to set up and in Germany, with an output of up to 600W, they don't even need a permit. We have summarized all the important information here . plug-in solar simulator from HTW Berlin shows you how much electricity and money you can save.

However, there is one detail that should definitely be taken into account before purchasing: In certain cases, when operating such a balcony power plant, a penalty payment is due in accordance with the recently amended Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG). Solar systems with an “installed capacity of a maximum of 25 kilowatts” must, if they were put into operation before 2023, “limit the active power feed-in to 70 percent of the installed capacity” ( Section 9 , Paragraph 2).

This clause is intended to prevent the electricity fed in from causing overloads in the power grid. For medium-sized solar power plants on the roof or on greenfield sites - those with outputs of up to 25 kilowatts - the regulation makes perfect sense. But with “plug-in solar” with mini outputs of up to 600 watts, less. But these are exactly what are usually sold without a corresponding limitation option.

Changes in the Renewable Energy Sources Act

Previously, the EEG in Section 52 only provided for a reduction in the feed-in tariff in the event of violations. Since balcony power plants did not qualify for this remuneration anyway due to low feed-in power, this had no effect on the operators. the amendment of July 20, 2022 brings innovations that significantly change the framework conditions: solar systems that do not meet the requirements of the EEG will now be subject to fines: ten euros per month per installed kilowatt of output.

Computer -Bild calculated this for a typical balcony power plant with two 300-watt modules: 6 euros per month, 72 euros per year penalty. If the operators save around 200 euros on electricity costs under ideal conditions, then the effective annual savings are reduced by a good third to 128 euros. However, for those who already operate a plug-in solar system or would like to purchase one this year, there are ways to avoid this.

Small adaptation – no penalty

The EEG stipulates that a maximum of 70 percent of the installed power may be fed into the power grid. This could, for example, be ensured by remote control by the network operator. This is understandably not provided for in small power plants. This can also be ensured with an inverter that has 30 percent less output power than the solar modules. In the example above with two 300 watts, that would be a 420 watt inverter.

“In principle, the 70% limit, ie the limitation of the maximum active power feed-in, can also be implemented through the orientation of the system or through self-consumption concepts. By limiting the inverter power to 70% of the installed power, this is possible in any case.”

Excerpt from the arbitration award 2019/4 of the clearing house EEG KWKG

A second option is to prove that a large part of the energy produced is immediately used in the household and therefore the required 70 percent mark is not exceeded even at maximum output. The easiest way to provide this proof is to install a smart socket between the solar power plant and the feed-in location. However, this must be able to measure the current in the feed direction. The smart home blog Siio has dealt intensively with this problem, both technically and legally. Some inverters are also able to measure consumption directly.

If the orientation of the solar system ensures that less than 70% of the installed output can be produced even at maximum output, then the operators are on the safe side. On this issue, the EEG KWKG clearinghouse refers to its own arbitration award 2019/4 . However, one thing should not be forgotten with this strategy: you voluntarily forego 30 percent of the electricity savings through your own generation - and the estimated 200 euros becomes 140 euros per year.

Update August 31, 2022

An attentive reader pointed out to us that the legal situation is not so clear and allows for two possible interpretations. on the PV magazine : “There are two levels of consideration for the 70 percent rule: the EEG and the technical standard,” lawyer Jörn Bringewat is quoted as saying. “However, the EEG only sanctions violations of technical specifications through loss of funding, i.e. within the EEG, so that failure to implement the technical specifications basically has no consequences when deciding not to take advantage of the funding.”

The technical standard VDE-AR-N 4105 “basically provides exactly the same regulation with regard to active power reduction, so that the 70 percent rule basically applies again.” However, this has no effect on the “relationship between connection users and network operators. […] Basically, a political decision is still needed to allow small photovoltaic balcony modules in principle and to free them from administrative nagging,” says Bringewat.

Update September 30, 2022

On September 14th, the German federal government decided on “far-reaching tax relief and reductions in bureaucracy for the decentralized use of photovoltaic systems”. Sven Giegold, Green State Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Affairs, summarized the details in a Twitter thread. This also specifically affects balcony power plants, for which output limits are no longer necessary:

approved on September 30th . This means that the 70 percent rule no longer applies with immediate effect. The justification section reads as follows:

Article 7 amends the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG 2021).
By changing Section 9 Paragraph 2 Sentence 1 Number 3 EEG 2021, solar systems that will
be put into operation this year will no longer be subject to the obligation under Section 9 Paragraph 2 Sentence 1 Number 3 EEG 2021
(so-called 70 percent -Regulation).

Here you will find out everything else you should know

purchasing a balcony power plant

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