This way you save money on battery stores

Save solar power

Boom of battery storage – advisory experts

If you have a solar system on the roof, you also have a battery memory in the basement. Is that worth it?

A photovoltaic system on the roof makes sense, even if there is also a battery memory. Because the solar power obtained can be used regardless of the solar radiation – for example in the evening or on heavily cloudy days.

For a long time, however, the battery stores for private households were very expensive. That has changed in the meantime. “Due to the significantly sunken prices, such a memory is quite interesting,” says energy expert Thomas Zwingmann from the Consumer Center North Rhine -Westphalia. The Federal Association of Solar Economics (BSW) even sees the sunken acquisition costs as the main reason for the high storage demand.

According to estimates by the BSW, around 1.8 million home memory were in operation at the end of 2024. This means that almost half of all photovoltaic systems in the so -called home segment (all around 3.8 million) are connected to a battery memory.

However, consumers keep coming into a fat when buying a battery storage: they choose the wrong size – they are often too big. This means that the battery storage with the solar energy you obtained will not be completely charged – a wasted capacity and therefore useless additional costs when purchasing?

Energy experts believe that this is not absolutely necessary. However, if you use a dynamic electricity tariff, you have the option of charging the free space when the electricity price is particularly low.

The owners of photovoltaic systems contribute to relieving the power grid through the investment in a battery memory. Because experts warn of possible blackouts in the summer months, especially on public holidays. Reason: Due to the increased feed-in of renewable energies through smaller PV systems, network-critical situations can lead to. In addition, industry consumes less energy on public holidays, which increases the risk of network problems. (You can find details here.)

If the privately obtained solar power, which could lead to a network overload, is now being locked into the battery storage, the situation would relax in the summer months.

The energy service provider Enpal observes enormous demand: “Almost all customers take a memory with it,” said a spokesman. Eon also reports that over 90 percent of the photovoltaic systems sold are now delivered with battery storage. Smart energy management systems also help to optimize production and consumption.

In the meantime, however, there are also so-called “Stromcloud tariffs”. Are you a good alternative for the home memory in the basement? The providers advertise these models at least as a flexible solution for excess solar power. As with a battery storage, electricity is not physically saved, but fed into the network and later removed. The term “cloud” suggests a virtual electricity account, but technically speaking it is regular power relevance from the network.

Stromcloud tariffs are often offered in combination with photovoltaic systems and battery storage. But consumer advocates warn: the contractual conditions are often complicated and the costs are difficult to understand. Most of the time, the classic approach is more worthwhile-i.e. the direct sale of surplus flow and the reference to residual current via an green electricity provider.