Power trading made easy

If you operate a PV system with a capacity of more than 100 kWp that was commissioned after January 1, 2016, you must directly sell the electricity generated. This requirement has applied to systems over 500 kWp since August 1, 2014. Due to country-specific deviations, SMA SPOT is currently only offered in Germany.

For a nominal system power of 100 kWp or more, you as a PV system operator are obligated to directly sell your electricity. Anyone who fails to comply with this obligation risks sanctions. SMA SPOT helps you easily comply with this obligation and increase your yields at the same time.

Yes, you can sell solar power directly. In order to do so, certain requirements must be met. Currently, direct selling for PV systems is compulsory in Germany for systems with an installed power of 100 kWp and above.

The electricity rate depends on current stock prices and market conditions. Thus, it may fluctuate and is usually higher than the fixed feed-in tariff.

In order for a PV system to be used for direct selling, the following conditions must be met:

• A new PV system with a power between 100 and 1,000 kWp (for PV rooftop systems up to 750 kWp) with SMA inverter and SMA Data Manager M.

• Registering load profile measurement (RLM energy meter).

• The PV system must be capable of remote control via SMA SPOT.

• A grid connection approval by the grid operator must be available.

As a PV system operator, you receive a compensation from SMA SPOT for the electricity sold on the EPEX SPOT power exchange and are paid a market premium by the grid operator in accordance with the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG).

SMA SPOT is a direct selling service offered by SMA and our subsidiary company coneva. As a subsidiary of SMA, coneva has the necessary expertise for intelligent, local energy management. Together, we offer you integrated energy management to help you make the most of your solar power.

SMA SPOT pays for the supplied solar power based on the prices of the hourly contracts from the day-ahead auction on the EPEX SPOT power exchange. The resulting electricity revenues are billed separately. For this, customers receive two documents: a credit note detailing the electricity revenues and an invoice for the agreed marketing fee.

• The market premium is calculated as "investable value" minus "market value solar".

• The Federal Network Agency determines the "investable value" and publishes it on its website.

• The transmission grid operators calculate the "market value solar" monthly and publish it on nhetztranparenz.de.

Since the market value solar is based on the average of all PV systems in Germany, the compensation for individual systems might be inaccurate. A PV system that feeds all its power into the grid often receives too little compensation whereas a PV system that feeds part of its power into the grid receives too much compensation. SMA SPOT relies on fair compensation based on real yields on the power exchange and passes the revenue on to the operators without costs or risk premiums. The risk for balancing energy costs is assumed by SMA SPOT.

If the electricity price is negative, your system's grid feed-in quota is reduced to prevent losses.

The costs for SMA SPOT depend on the size of your PV system and the amount of electricity fed in. A marketing fee is charged, which is agreed upon individually.

If the contract is signed no later than 10 business days before the end of the month, direct selling will start on the 1st of the month after next.

In the event of utility grid bottlenecks (redispatch measures).

If feed-in is curtailed, the feed-in tariff will depend on the reason for the curtailment:

If curtailment occurs for market reasons (e.g., due to negative stock prices), no compensation will be paid.

If curtailment is carried out by the grid operator as part of a redispatch, financial compensation may be paid - unless negative stock prices were in effect at the time of the curtailment.

The calculation is made in accordance with a standard procedure and is credited monthly.