ᐅ Energy Communities: Saving Grid Fees & Sharing Solar Power with Neighbors

Hello everyone,

Those who are currently building or planning a renovation with photovoltaic systems usually calculate: “How much self-consumption can I achieve?”

One topic that is often overlooked but significantly improves the profitability of the system is energy communities. This concept is especially great for house builders like us: instead of just selling surplus electricity cheaply back to the grid, it is shared within the neighborhood or district.

The biggest benefit for household budgets is the grid cost bonus:

Because the electricity stays local and is not transmitted through high-voltage lines across the country, grid fees are significantly reduced.

This makes electricity cheaper for the consumers and more profitable for the producers.

This is particularly interesting for those who want to supply, for example, their parents' house or the nearby office building.

We have created a detailed guide that explains how to become part of such a community and how to maximize the savings on grid fees:

???? https://www.energie-und-wohnen.at/post/smart-meter-oesterreich

I’m curious: Is anyone here already planning to join an energy community (BEG/EEG) or do you only use your surplus for your own consumption/storage?

Best regards!

Do you have something for Germany as well? Austrians are almost not represented here.

And no, I have neither planned nor operated anything like that, because in my opinion there is still a lot of effort required in Germany (tenant electricity) and it is practically not done.

Unfortunately, not yet for D...

I don’t think something like this is easy to implement in Germany...

Technically speaking, my neighbor is already sharing his photovoltaic electricity with me. When I draw power and he feeds it in, the electricity “flows” to me, not through the 110kV network via five transformers going in circles three times before reaching me. Although this is a very simplified explanation, energy is not primarily transmitted through electron (current) flow in the conductor.

The issue seems to be that I would get electricity from my neighbor via a smart meter at a lower cost than buying it from the grid. And I believe this is where the catch lies in Germany, because grid operators or utility companies are unlikely to let themselves be undercut by first buying electricity and then selling it at a higher price.

Neighbors have the same sunrise and sunset times, so they generally turn on their lights at roughly the same time. It is quite rare for retirees, day-shift workers, and night-shift workers to be mixed in such a way that Meier’s peak consumption times would balance out with Müller’s low consumption periods. Electricity providers rely on the power flowing through their meters. On top of that, there are transmission fees: in my apartment building, some neighbors receive electricity from the municipal utility, others from a power supply company, and there are also neighbors with mill power or 24-hour power – how could we “exchange” energy among ourselves without leaving one of the stakeholders out?

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