Grid fees are an underrated lever on return. § 14a of the German Energy Act (controllable consumption devices) and atypical grid usage can cut cost noticeably — but only if the plant is sized for it. This guide places those rules inside the architecture decision.
Controllable consumption devices — batteries, heat pumps, charge points — can receive reduced grid fees if the network operator is allowed to curtail them when needed. The effect is a genuine cost advantage that changes the economics of the installation.
Anyone who reliably places their load peak outside the network operator's high-load windows can receive reduced demand charges. A battery that shaves precisely in those windows earns part of its own cost back.
Both regimes change the optimal battery: kW size, control strategy, and whether the installation should be registered as a controllable device at all. Ignoring the grid-fee logic leads to oversizing or undersizing.
EXAIOS treats the § 14a reduction and atypical grid usage as part of the cash flow and the sizing — not as a bonus added afterwards. The recommended architecture therefore reflects the real grid-fee situation at your site.
EXAIOS returns the decisive figures for every site:
We publish no invented numbers. Compute your real site in minutes — the first indication is free.
Start a free indicationIt depends — the reduced grid-fee rate stands against possible curtailment. EXAIOS computes both effects against each other.
Not in principle, but the regimes interact. EXAIOS tests the permissible and economically best combination for your site.
Site-dependent, but often material to the return. The free indication shows the order of magnitude for your case.