Schuko plug officially solar-compatible: DIN for balcony power plants is ready

The product standard DIN VDE V 0126-95, which applies to balcony power plants with Schuko plugs (“plug-in solar devices”), has been published. Schuko plugs have thus made it into the official standard, creating legal certainty for consumers, retailers, and manufacturers.

The DIN VDE V 0126-95 is officially available from VDE is available and describes the “Safety requirements and tests for user-operable, plug-connected photovoltaic systems for grid parallel operation […], which feed energy into final circuits within a low-voltage installation using a pre-assembled plug-in device.” It defines what plug-in solar devices are and what requirements they must meet to be connected to domestic power grids.

Unlike conventional photovoltaic systems, the systems, also referred to as “balcony power plants,” are designed so that laypersons can connect them safely. This includes, among other things, limiting the power of the solar modules and the connection power of the inverters. The product standard permits connection via Schuko plug by laypersons for systems with up to 960 watts of module power and 800 watts of connection power. Systems exceeding these values must be connected by a qualified electrician in accordance with the standard. From 2000 watts of module power, the special regulations for balcony power plants end; they then become a standard photovoltaic system that must be installed by an electrician and registered with the grid operator.

Legal simplifications for balcony power plants

Improvements are also expected for tenants and homeowner associations due to the newly published VDE standard. Many discussions with property management companies, which to this day sometimes insist on feed-in sockets (e.g., from the manufacturer Wieland) or the installation of 800-watt inverters by a qualified electrician, can be shortened by this: Plug-in generation systems with Schuko plugs are compliant with the standard.

Currently, around 1.15 million plug-in solar devices with a capacity of 1.14 gigawatts (peak) are registered in the market master data register of the Federal Network Agency. In June, for the first time, more than one million active balcony power plants in Germany were recorded. Increasingly, balcony power plants are now combining small batteries. However, the newly published standard applies purely to balcony power plants and not to the batteries referred to as “mini-storage units.” The German Solar Industry Association (BSW) welcomes the now published product standard and points out that DKE/VDE also intends to work on a product standard for mini-storage units in a working group.

For plug-in solar devices with storage, according to BSW, the installation of a current sensor by a qualified electrician is necessary, unlike with pure balcony power plants without batteries. Furthermore, pure plug-in solar devices only need to be registered in the market master data register. Battery storage systems, on the other hand, require additional registration with the grid operator.

(dmk)