Electricity tariffs with photovoltaics: understand grid imports

A customer with their own PV installation wants an electricity tariff. Your sales team now needs to address electricity actually purchased in addition. Roof generation, household consumption and exports describe different quantities. Correct allocation helps customers assess a suitable supply offer. Their solar installation becomes part of the picture without high annual generation being treated as proof of a tariff advantage.

Ask about additional electricity purchases

Start with the desired offer. Does the customer want to compare household imports, examine a particular marketing arrangement or first understand quantities? These tasks may connect but need different answers. An import electricity offer should describe the supply your business actually sells. Establish the product being chosen so an ordinary supply offer does not inadvertently become an assessment of the whole solar installation.

Then ask how generation is actually used. The Bundesnetzagentur distinguishes full export, self-supply with surplus export and use within the customer installation without export, among other arrangements. “We have photovoltaics” therefore does not establish one import quantity. Confirm the arrangement. Special accounting allocations or multiple supply points need identification by the responsible specialists before combining quantities from different documents.

For a simple household exporting surplus, the quantity drawn from the grid matters to the supply comparison. Total generation is not the appropriate input. Ask for the associated billed value and period. If only an installation display is available, establish what it represents. A clearly displayed large number does not confirm that it belongs in the import offer as consumption.

Separate generation, self-consumption and export

Generation initially describes the electricity produced. In the simple case considered, some can be used in the home and some exported. Grid imports supplement consumption not covered by own use. Keep labels with values. Otherwise the same kWh could accidentally appear both as own consumption and as exported electricity in a personal comparison.

Compare periods before combining values mathematically. Generation since commissioning and a bill for the last twelve months do not match merely because both use kWh. Different start dates matter too. Ask for the appropriate missing basis. A difference formed from different periods would imply accuracy the documents do not yet provide.

Check that figures concern the same supply. An installation portal may show several generating areas while your offer concerns one supply point. Another dwelling or separate consumer must remain identifiable. You need not assess wiring yourself. Responsible confirmation of allocation is enough to prepare the right offer and exclude unrelated quantities.

Understand a fictional quantity picture

An explicitly invented example considers a simple household without storage or special accounting allocation. Generation of 6,000 kWh is assumed for the same period. The household uses 2,400 kWh itself and exports 3,600 kWh. Total consumption is assumed at 4,000 kWh. This gives 1,600 kWh of additional grid imports. All figures are invented calculation assumptions, not a forecast for an actual installation.

Generation exceeds total consumption here, yet grid imports remain positive. Explain why the annual difference between generation and household consumption does not simply describe supply needs. The limited calculation uses the quantity actually self-consumed. A real offer requires the appropriately confirmed import figure. An annual surplus does not become freely available electricity credit for other times without a specific agreement.

If own use changed in the example, additional imports would need reassessment. Generation alone does not determine that change. Distinguish billed quantities from assumed future usage. A comparison can begin with an identified assumption, but that assumption should not silently become a measured value merely because the result appears in a finished offer.

Account for commissioning in the comparison

If the PV installation started partway through the last billing year, the bill does not automatically describe a full year under the new arrangement. Ask about the actual start and period covered by import data. The old annual consumption may contain months without self-supply. Do not simply adopt it as established future imports. Explain why an earlier bill and new expectations have different foundations.

For a planned installation, identify the distinction directly: existing imports on one side, future assumption on the other. Obtain relevant professional planning if customers need a stronger expectation. Your tariff conversation calculates neither roof generation nor component suitability. It can show which quantity assumption the offer uses and which confirmation would improve it.

Avoid general extrapolation from a single good generation month. A short sample does not establish the whole year without further evidence. The same applies to unusual household usage. Identify the sample and its limits when used for orientation. Customers can then decide whether better data is needed or whether they initially want to compare explicitly named assumptions.

Read fixed charges alongside smaller imports

When assumed imports fall, fixed charges take on a different significance. A standing charge does not automatically fall in proportion to quantity. Check actual pricing and possible separate metering costs. Show which items depend on imports and which are charged independently. This makes the offer clearer than focusing only on the highlighted unit rate.

When comparing two real products, use the same import assumption first. If that quantity changes later, recalculate both options on the changed basis. Otherwise one could appear cheaper simply because it assumes less supplied electricity. Customers can distinguish tariff effects from quantity assumptions when changes and their reasons are explained separately.

Ask about conditions relevant to the existing supply. The actual supplier confirms product availability for that import arrangement and any additional agreement. A generally advertised solar tariff is not a complete service description. Read the actual scope. If your business offers only imports, present exactly that and treat other requested services as separate options.

Explain export income and import bills separately

The Bundesnetzagentur describes different routes for marketing or accepting exported energy. This does not mean your ordinary import offer takes on that task. Ask what export agreement exists and whether customers want to decide about it at all. Existing export acceptance and a new supply contract do not become a new package merely through a shared conversation note.

An overall financial overview should show its components too. Export income and import spending may be considered together but remain assigned to their respective agreements. Do not assume automatic netting. Customers should see which amount rests on which quantity and condition. If a reliable income figure is absent, leave it open rather than use assumed remuneration to create an apparently attractive supply offer.

If a supplier advertises a bundle with storage, marketing or credit components, read its conditions separately. What service is included, which technical requirement applies and what costs arise? Such a product exceeds a simple ordinary supply calculation. Present only its substantiated scope. Specialists clarify particular storage and accounting arrangements before a personal commitment is made.

Assess usage changes specifically

An additional electric car or newly used heat pump may change future quantities. Ask for the professional basis for that usage. An appliance name alone gives no precise import forecast. What matters is whether the change is already included in the assumption. Otherwise mark it as an open influence so an old figure does not become a full description of a changed household.

Additional storage needs the same distinction between existing measurement and future expectation. Have its effect on the arrangement professionally explained. Your comparison should recommend neither an arbitrary storage size nor a fixed avoided-import share. It can compare two labelled bases: confirmed existing arrangement and professionally supported new assumption. Customers see what rests on experience and what on planning.

If only one assumption changes, explain its impact on the option. The unit rate may stay constant while the total changes with quantity. Or a new product version may change fixed charges. Keep these reasons separate. A clear revision shows what changed from the previous comparison and which decision therefore deserves another look.

Prepare a clear import decision

Customers finally need an allocated grid quantity, matching period and actual product costs. An unresolved future assumption stays labelled. They can compare the present tariff or first complete the new arrangement professionally. Support either path through the real supply scope, without treating solar equipment as blanket proof of savings.

Record only information needed for this decision. Complete private installation accounts or portal access do not belong in a general sales enquiry. Arrange the intended protected exchange for necessary documents and limit content to relevant allocation. Customers should know why information is needed. A targeted question often establishes the basis better than a large unchecked collection.

Before explaining the offer, check its labels again. Does it say grid imports when grid imports were used? Are generation and export included only where the chosen assessment needs them? This final allocation makes the choice readable. Customers recognise what electricity they would buy from you and what other service may need separate assessment.

New electricity tariff conversations

webRichtung provides electricity tariff enquiries with consumption band, usage, reason and contact. PV generation, self-consumption and exact grid imports are clarified in the personal comparison. Register on the electricity tariff page and check the current enquiry price in webRichtung Customer before a binding order.

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Source

Bundesnetzagentur: Solar and other renewable energy installations, read in full on 18 October 2026. The quantity example is explicitly fictional and limited to a simple case; technical planning and particular metering or marketing models require responsible professional assessment.