Entry into force of the Solar Peak Law

According to an article in a relevant e-car and photovoltaic online magazine, it is voluntary for existing installations:

Operators of already existing solar power systems can switch to the new regulation on a voluntary basis. As an incentive, they receive an increased remuneration of 0.6 cents/kWh.

It's all nicely summarized:

[*]Operators of systems commissioned between January 1, 2023, and the entry into force of the new law (expected March 1, 2025) do not have to have their systems throttled - okay, that's fine.
[*]Operators of systems commissioned before September 14, 2022, who have already throttled to 70 percent can keep the 70 percent throttling and do not have to reduce to 60 percent - okay, at least no electrician needs to be bothered there.
[*]Operators of systems commissioned before September 14, 2022, and with a size up to and including 7 kW, who had increased the feed-in power back to 100 percent after January 1, 2023, may stay at 100 percent and do not have to reduce again - okay, ditto.
[*]But: Operators of systems who never throttled under the old 70 percent rule, for example because no craft partner was found, or the throttling was simply forgotten, must implement their system at 60 percent of the feed-in power – as the new law requires – and I am curious how a) this will be checked and b) implemented, if no trade partner was found beforehand, for example.

Summed up, once again a wonderful regulatory monster.

We ourselves fall under point three – once someone from the municipal utilities came by and wanted to check in 2023 how we are regulated. I then made it quite clear to him that with about 10 cm more height and roughly 40 kg more weight than him, I was pretty curious how he planned to tinker with the settings of my solar system including the battery.

On that basis, those guys will probably just sweep point four under the rug.

Is this the summary of Enpal? On other provider sites, unfortunately, it is not quite as precise, and I have not yet completely gone through the 100 pages of the Photovoltaic Forum. However, what is important is actually what is in the draft, but that was also around 100 pages.

I assume that we then fall under point 4. Our system is from 2020 and has been running at 100% from the start.

If we manage to do it in time, we would fall under 1. The assemblers are already working hard today, only when the electrician will come for commissioning is currently still uncertain.

Ok, since I've been following this for a while, I might be able to provide some clarity.

When does it come into effect:
As soon as it is published in the Bundesanzeiger(?). It is expected by the end of the month.
Are existing installations affected: No. They are still protected under existing regulations. We have our fixed feed-in tariffs.

Why was something changed:
Our Renewable Energy Act account is running empty. To put a stop to that, the static remuneration for feed-in has to be regulated differently. Essentially only fair.

What changes:
(applies as of today) only to new installations larger than 7kWp. For the rest, it is voluntary.
The feed-in tariff becomes flexible. In other words, if the market electricity price is high, we get good money; if it is low or even negative (summer at midday), then we get little or nothing. But since we are supposed to receive remuneration for 20 years, a somewhat complicated key will add the time of negative prices/no remuneration at the end. So you get, for example, 20 years and 6 months of remuneration.
To properly bill the whole thing, a smart electricity meter with a SmartMeter is mandatory. As a transition (I believe only about 2% of customers currently have a SmartMeter in DE), a fixed cutoff at 60% is planned if one does not want the SmartMeter.
The SmartMeter+ plus some additional features naturally costs an annual fee, which is scaled depending on the version. Depending on the grid operator, this can also get quite expensive.

Those who want to know the details can check out the YT channel of GewaltigNachhaltig. He really goes into the details and provides information on current developments.