Tenant electricity and balcony power plants: Solar package I comes into force
The law for simplifications in photovoltaics was fought over for a long time. It has now come into force with its publication in the Federal Law Gazette.
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The Solar Package I Act was published in the Federal Law Gazette and thus comes into force. The new provisions are intended to accelerate the expansion of photovoltaics in Germany. There are simplifications and changes for so-called tenant electricity and plug-in solar systems (balcony power plants), among other things.
The Bundestag and Bundesrat approved the law amending the Renewable Energy Sources Act and other energy industry regulations to increase the expansion of photovoltaic energy generation at the end of April. This was preceded by a long consultation phase, particularly within the traffic light coalition. This delayed the entry into force originally planned for the turn of the year. The main point of contention between the SPD, FDP and Greens was the promotion of the German solar industry.
What Solar Package I changes
With Solar Package I, balcony power plants can be put into operation without registering with the local grid operator. Only registration in the Federal Network Agency's market master data register remains mandatory - but this can easily be done online. Anyone who does not yet have a digital electricity meter may continue to use the old one for a transitional period and does not have to wait for the grid operator to replace it. The law also raises the feed-in limit for plug-in solar systems from 600 to 800 watts. An installed output of the solar modules of 2 kilowatts is permitted.
The German Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies is currently working on a standard for plug-in solar devices and is also planning to increase the maximum feed-in power from 600 volt-amperes (VA) to 800 VA.
Fewer hurdles for tenant electricity
In the case of tenant electricity, the law is intended to lower the hurdles for a communal building supply. Until now, PV system operators had to become energy suppliers if they wanted to pass on solar power to tenants in the building. The new requirements will eliminate a lot of bureaucracy and costs, for example for measurement technology.
(mki)