The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs is planning to lower the certification requirements for photovoltaic systems on commercial and industrial roofs from 135 kWp. The plan is to certify rooftop PV systems up to 500 kWp according to the more favorable and simpler low-voltage directive VDE AR-N 4105, provided they feed a maximum of 270 kilowatts of their output into the grid. This is intended to apply regardless of the voltage levels of the connections. The federal government and the German Solar Industry Association expect this significant simplification to provide a further investment boost in commercial rooftop photovoltaic systems.
Previous 135-kWp limit for rooftop PV systems to be raised
In April 2018, the 96-page VDE AR-N 4105 came into effect. It was the first to de facto soften the validity of the standards for the voltage levels and to introduce the 135 kWp limit. As a result, until today, the costly medium-voltage directive VDE AR-N 4110 remains the regulatory standard for PV systems with an output of 135 kWp or more. Such certification quickly costs several thousand euros and represents a high bureaucratic burden. PV systems with an output of 135 kW to 950 kW can currently still comply with the simplified B-type system certificate according to VDE AR-N 4110, but these disproportionately strict certification requirements lead to frustration among investors and a bottleneck in the application for the respective grid connections. The draft regulations now presented aim to speed up and simplify the entire process for systems up to 500 kWp.
High goals require simplified network connections and more speed
To meet the ambitious Goal to approach an annual increase of 22 gigawatts of solar power and to be able to expand to 215 gigawatts in Germany by 2030, this measure should be implemented as quickly as possible in the Electrical Properties Certification Ordinance (NELEV) and a new Technical Requirements Ordinance (TAV). This is intended to further boost demand from companies for photovoltaic systems on commercial and industrial rooftops. In this spirit, the NELEV was already adjusted at the end of July 2022. Operators of systems up to 950 kWp are entitled to provisional commissioning even without a certificate. However, only if they have system certificate B certified together with the declaration of conformity. This may take place up to 18 months after grid connection. This interim solution for simplified grid connections, which was introduced as part of the Energy Industry Act has decided, is still valid until 2025. It was able to alleviate the backlog in certifications somewhat, so that many PV systems completed by then have been allowed to go into operation since then.