The advanced expansion of solar energy not only brings advantages. He presents electricity network operators for real problems. Because the unchecked expansion overloads the power grid. Operators warn of local power failures.
The solar energy in Germany is booming. Many cities and municipalities promote solar power, such as Walldorf near Heidelberg. The 16,000-inhabitant location wants to become “Solarstadt” and has therefore started an offensive. The municipality subsidizes the installation of solar systems – so far with a good five million euros.
Stefan Bender used the financial subsidy of his hometown. The house from the 1970s, in which he lives together with his parents, has been switched to green electricity since 2023. He received 6,000 euros from the city, paid 23,000 himself. This should pay off in 13 years. But the solar system produces more electricity than the family can consume. Most of the electricity flows into the net. “As soon as the memory is full, everything is automatically fed into the network. I have absolutely no influence,” explains Bender.
“There is a constipation online”
The uncontrolled feed -in ensures stress in the German power grid. “It can happen that too much photovoltaic current – especially from smaller systems that have increasingly come online in recent years – practically has constipation on the net,” says Carsten Liedtke, Vice President of the Association of Local Company (VKU). This means that individual local network stations have to be switched off for safety. “And then there are local power failures, each of which several hundred people can be affected,” said Liedtke.
There is an above -average number of solar energy in Bavaria. The employees of the transmission system operator Tennet are on alert – especially on cloudless days with low power consumption. Sundays and public holidays are dangerous. This year alone, they had to intervene several times to prevent local power failures through solar tips.
The network operators primarily take care of rural regions. There, the power grid is often less developed than in metropolitan areas and therefore more susceptible to large amounts of solar power.
Feed -in As the cause?
For Lion Hirth, professor of energy policy at the Hertie School in Berlin, it is clear: the feed -in tariff is the cause. In this excess solar power is fed into the network and remunerated by the state. The problem: Even if there is so much electricity on the net that the prices on the stock exchange are negative, the feed -in tariff will be paid further.
But that should change now. The background is the law to prevent solar power tips that have been in force since February 25. In the future, the feed -in tariff in times of negative electricity prices – but only with new solar systems will be eliminated.
This is the right step for energy expert Hirth: “In the long term, all systems in the so -called direct marketing should – that is, small solar systems should also be controlled and optimized at some point as today.” Companies that market them on the stock exchange should take care of this. “You need a lot of IT for such direct marketing. It must be integrated into the technology systems of these marketers and these optimization companies – and that is all bureaucratic, complex and also expensive,” says Hirth.
New solar systems with artificial intelligence
The first technical solutions for homeowners are already available. These new solar systems need software that is based on the demand for electricity. Modern control technology is based on artificial intelligence (AI). In this way, network operators can regulate the system.
“Our AI is trained here. Every day she goes to school, so to speak, and gets better every day,” explains Sascha Koppe from the 1 -KomMA5 ° company. The solar tip law makes smart meters – i.e. intelligent electricity meters – and tax boxes compulsory. This applies to all new solar systems. The goal is their remote control. Otherwise, the electricity feed -in is limited to 60 percent of the service, i.e. less remuneration.
More controllability through new, smart systems
Kevin Brand from Brandenburg has such a system. Smart meters and tax box are installed in his basement. Its network feed is automatically adapted to the current electricity demand – and its own consumption is optimized. He has access to his data in real time via an app.
“Production 8.9 kilowatts. My consumption 8.3. So I have already won a little bit on a bad day,” says Brand. The surplus is sold on the electricity exchange – if the electricity price is not negative. “For the new systems of solar systems, the generation leadership law makes work easier for us because it has integrated more controllability and thus the processes are easier for us,” explains Dominique Ernst from the transmission system operator Tennet.
