Courts in Bochum and Osnabrück upheld sales bans on certain plug-in solar batteries over alleged missing circuit-overload protection, finding the systems failed VDE standards. One ban is legally effective; violations can bring fines of up to €250,000.
Berlin-based Indielux brought the cases and said the retailers failed to overturn the bans on appeal. The rulings also mean the systems involved cannot be marketed as “plug & play” or installable “without an electrician.” Indielux says electricity fed back into home wiring through a standard socket can pose an overheating risk if a fuse does not provide its intended protection; the company says systems above 960 watts of PV capacity need technical overload protection.
Indielux said only one manufacturer had demonstrated the required protection. It said the device in the proceedings lacked it and could be set to feed power at 1.5 times the limit in the relevant standard. The company reported nearly 250,000 systems above 960 watts of PV capacity registered in Germany in the 12 months before Sept. 21, 2026, and estimated the potentially affected market, including unregistered systems, at about €500 million.
