France in Focus

I am considering options for a solar system for the house, including a certain amount of battery backup, to give us some autonomy in the case of power cuts, but also to make use of cheap overnight rate to charge the batteries making a secondary saving.

This is not going to be a totally autonomous system, and will also connect to the incoming mains supply.

Does anyone know where to find the info on the regulations on connecting such a system, at the moment I am not looking at the possibility of selling the excess back to the grid.

The EDF has an answer for the option of autoconsommation (not selling one electron) avec stockage / batterie. Two years ago there was an official field experiment that has apparently found favour with the relevant authorities in Paris. As of 1 September 2025, the updated NF C 15-100 standard has strictly regulated the connection of self-consumption photovoltaic systems with storage, requiring a direct connection to the main distribution board via a dedicated circuit breaker. A Consuel certificate is essential to confirm the installation’s compliance, including earthing and protective measures.

The website of Hellio gives practical advice. What keeps them so long? Promotelec has still not published its new electricians bible to incoprorate the changes of the NFC 15-100 regs in September 2025. The publishing company Eyrolles in Paris is also waiting to start selling a revised edition of this popular book.

widge wrote: ↑Sat May 09, 2026 5:53 pm at the moment I am not looking at the possibility of selling the excess back to the grid.

Just as well ! From an item on TF1 news last week, it would seem that the buy back price of solar powered electricity has plummeted. There was a time when people could count on a reasonable return on selling back excess electricity produced which offset what they'd paid out in installation costs. Today this is no longer the case.

Widge, not about the French regulations, about the price differences between EU member states. What are you going to pay for the necessary hardware? In the German press this morning an interesting offer for the 'Der Spiegel' subscribers. I didn't try to find out what the French solar branche has to offer, time consuming, small print and as usual all those regulations.

As part of an exclusive offer from 'Kleines Kraftwerk', SPIEGEL readers pay €1,302 instead of €2,219 for a complete balcony power plant kit with a peak output of 2,000 Wp and a matching Anker battery. The saving here is more than €900 for a complete set from well known names.

Nominally, the four TOPCon solar modules included in the set offer a total output of 1800 Wp. However, as they are bifacial and also convert sunlight reflected from the rear into electricity, the total output increases significantly. Depending on conditions, this can even reach up to 2250 Wp. Particularly handy: in this exclusive set, buyers also receive an Anker Smart Meter worth €99 free of charge.

These are the highlights of this Germany/Spiegel only solar deal:

* All-in-one Anker Solix Solar Bank 3 E2700 Pro with 2.7 kWh storage capacity
* Inverter integrated into the solar bank
* Free Anker Smart Meter included
* Anker Solix power connection cable with earth-contacted plug (3 metres)
* 4 MC4 solar cables
* Full-black 500 Wp PV modules (bifacial)

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May 17: an update from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

So, what's stopping us from using plug-in solar?


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In retrospect, this side of the Atlantc Ocean.

The revised French electrical code (2025): about the connection of the so called Plug & Play solar panels.

Thu Oct 02, 2025.