Balcony power plant 800 watts: what the limit means

Short answer

In everyday speech, 800 watts means the inverter output of 800 VA, not the modules. The installed power of the modules may total at most 2,000 watts. Behind the same grid connection point both limits apply, and you add up several plug-in solar devices.

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What 800 watts means

Many people search for a balcony power plant with 800 watts of power. That figure means the inverter output of at most 800 VA in total. Module power sits beside that and may be higher than 800 watts.

Which limits apply

The special rules apply since the Solar Package of 16 May 2024. A plug-in solar device is defined in the EEG in section 3 number 43. Inverter output behind the same grid connection point may total at most 800 VA.

You add up several plug-in solar devices behind the same grid connection point. The modules may total at most 2,000 watts of installed power. If the inverter exceeds 800 VA, the simplified special rules do not apply.

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What a throttle changes

The highest selectable power of the inverter and the modules counts. A software throttle does not lower the relevant inverter output to the set value. A 900 VA device stays at 900 VA even if you set 600.

Registration

You still register the plug-in solar device in the Marktstammdatenregister of the Bundesnetzagentur. The report to the grid operator drops inside these power limits with unpaid offtake. The Bundesnetzagentur then forwards the register data to the grid operator.

The special rules require offtake of the exported electricity without payment. For that electricity you then receive no EEG feed-in tariff from the grid operator. Without this unpaid offtake the simplified special rules do not apply.