New VDE-AR-N 4100: Changes for balcony power plants and e-car charging cables

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The Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies (VDE) is planning a new version of VDE-AR-N 4100. What initially sounds like news for specialists has far-reaching implications. The document is central to all private and many commercial domestic connections at the low-voltage level. With the planned changes, the responsible working group is responding to trends that are no longer so new in some cases, such as balcony power stations with 800 watts and increased interest in heat pumps, air conditioning systems and wall boxes. However, the changes are not yet set in stone.

At the end of September, the "Forum Netztechnik/Netzbetrieb im VDE (FNN)", or more precisely its "Technical Connection Rules for Low Voltage" project group, presented a draft version of VDE-AR-N 4100, which is intended to replace the current VDE-AR-N 4100:2019-04 from April 2019. The public now has until November 27, 2024 to submit objections. Changes to the document have major implications: VDE-AR-N 4100 regulates "the connection of customer installations to the low-voltage grid and their operation" and therefore the interface between a customer's electrical installation and the grid operator's grid.

Among other things, 4100 specifies how meter points should be designed, which protective devices must be installed there and what information the electrical contractor must provide to the grid operator when commissioning or modifying a system. In short: 4100 applies equally to meter cabinets, balcony power plants, large PV systems, heat pumps, wall boxes and other consumers and generators. The application rule itself has no legal significance, but serves the grid operators as a basis for their Technical Connection Conditions (TAB), which they make part of the contract with the connection customers. In the TAB, the grid operators can also make specifications that go beyond the connection rule (AR).

The draft is publicly available for download – For all those who do not have paid access to the standards and regulations, the draft stage is an opportunity to download the full text of the AR free of charge. Anyone wishing to comment on the changes needs a free account on the www.entwuerfe.normenbibliothek.de portal. There is a convenient viewer including a full-text search. What has changed compared to the 2019 version is not highlighted, however; there is only a brief summary of the planned changes. We have compared the draft with the current version and summarized the most important changes.

How to register

The summary only briefly mentions a "grid connection portal". What lies behind this is an indirect request from the expert group to grid operators to finally push ahead with digitalization. Specifically, it concerns section 4.1 "Registration of electrical systems and devices". Until now, an electrical company had to report all commissioning and changes to the grid operator on paper or PDF forms and then send them to the grid operator by fax, post or scanned email. Some grid operators always require a stamp from the company and generally reject unstamped documents.

The new version of the AR declares war on this paper process. Section 4.1 now states: "To enable the grid operator to assess the low-voltage grid, the grid connection (house connection) [...], the subscriber or the planner or installer must provide the necessary information via the grid operator's grid connection portal." The data requested by the portal is regulated in a "Data set for the digital grid connection process". The VDE committee is thus also following requirements set by the legislator: From January 1, 2025, PV systems up to 30 kW must be able to be registered in accordance with Section 8 EEG.

Balcony power plants

The committee also follows the legislator on another point: Point 4.1 (page 27 of the PDF file of the draft) lists the changes to a customer installation that require notification and approval. In the old version, this was just a bullet point list; what is new is a detailed table that explains exactly which measures only require the electrician to click through a notification in the online portal and where express approval is required.

This table now includes "Plug-in solar devices ≤ 800 VA inverter power and ≤ 2 kW module power per connection user system for which no feed-in tariff is claimed". This is an adjustment to the amendment to the Market Master Data Register Ordinance, according to which a balcony power plant with an inverter output of up to 800 watts only needs to be entered in the market master data register.

The registration of storage systems for balcony power plants is also newly regulated. The previous version stated that "[...] all electrical storage systems must be registered with the grid operator." There was no exception for batteries that are connected via a plug. The draft now states that "stationary electrical storage systems" must be registered – so it is not about mobile storage systems.

Sockets for charging electric cars

The new table lines on charging facilities for electric cars contain a surprise. Previously, it simply stated "Charging facilities for electric vehicles with rated outputs ≥ 3.6 kVA and all electrical storage systems must be registered with the grid operator." In addition, equipment with a rated output of more than 12 kVA had to be approved. These rules have not changed in the new table, but the wording "circuits intended for the energy supply of electric vehicles for the use of IC-CPD Mode 2 charging cables (portable charging cable with charging control)" is new. These are the Schuko charging adapters that are usually supplied with electric cars (also known as "charging bricks" among electric car drivers).

According to the new version, whenever a customer orders a socket for car charging with such an adapter, an electrician must register it with the grid operator in the same way as a wallbox (digitally in future). If, on the other hand, the customer only orders a Schuko socket, for example to operate a lawn mower, and then plugs their car into it, there is no need to register. In practice, however, there are good reasons to specifically order a socket for your car if you intend to charge there more frequently: Ordinary Schuko sockets are not designed for a continuous load of the full 16 ampere with which a socket circuit is fused at maximum.

It is therefore advisable to install a reinforced 230-volt socket outlet for such charging adapters. One supplier is the manufacturer Legrand with the "Green-Up charging socket". The difference between these sockets is that the reinforced version is mechanically more robust and can withstand six hours of continuous charging at full power. An ordinary 230-volt socket is only designed for a continuous load of 10 A. Anyone who has a reinforced socket installed in the future must also expect to pay the costs for registering with the grid operator – unless they order the socket before the new 4100 comes into force.

However, the full 16 amperes (3680 watts) will not usually flow. The car manufacturers' "charging bricks" all limit the current: the standard is 10 A (2300 watts), the outlier is Kia with up to 12 A (adjustable). The Stellantis Group, which includes the Opel, Peugeot and Citroën brands, includes chargers with only 8 A (1840 watts). But even with the lower charging currents, it makes sense to commission an electrician to install a new charging socket in the garage. The installations in old garages in particular are not designed for higher continuous loads – rather for operating a garage door motor.

Heat pumps and air conditioning systems

The rules for registering air conditioning systems and heat pumps are also formulated more precisely in the new version. Up to 11 kW, they are subject to registration; for higher outputs, they are also subject to approval, with the exception of mobile devices (mobile air conditioning systems).

The other planned changes are more likely to affect a small group of interested parties. These include the arrangement of fields at the meter location and measuring transformers for semi-indirect measurement up to 100 A – not relevant for homeowners. Anyone who is dissatisfied with the planned changes or wants to add points has until November 27 to do so.

(jam)