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The German government has set ambitious goals for the expansion of solar energy. In order for these to be achieved, though, not only do more systems need to be installed in the coming years, the certification process has to be accelerated as well.

Bureaucracy slows down the energy transition

For solar projects with an output above 135 kilowatts to be connected to the grid, a system certificate must be obtained first. This requires proof that the plant complies with all the requirements of the grid operator in order to ensure grid stability and system security. This verification in turn demands large amounts of technically complex information to be provided by the project developer and verified by the certification bodies.

For this reason, the certification process at the moment leads to huge delays in the expansion of solar. As CarbonFreed founder Marko Ibsch explains, "the certification bodies process about 1,500 to 2,000 larger solar installations nationwide per year. That corresponds to a capacity of 5 GW. In order to achieve our goals, however, we need about 10,000 plants per year with a capacity of 15 gigawatts."

Using AI to speed up processes

CarbonFreed has made it its mission to close this gap. The startup acts as an intermediary between developers and certification bodies. It prepares the necessary forms and reviews them in a preliminary process so that certification can proceed in an expedited manner. Recently, CarbonFreed has also started using a specially developed AI solution for this purpose. The algorithm of "gridcert" independently searches large amounts of data for relevant information and leaves only the qualitative evaluation of this data to the human analysts.

In addition, CarbonFreed takes over a large part of the complex technical communication between the different stakeholders, thus further simplifying the process. In this way, the grid connection process of large solar plants is shortened from several months to just a few weeks.

Field testing with ENVIRIA

Now solar startup ENVIRIA, which specializes in ambitious PV projects for businesses, is collaborating with CarbonFreed for the first time. The joint project is a 495.32kWp installation, built on the premises of Communications Test Design, Inc (CTDI) in Malsch, Baden-Württemberg.

For the initial test run, Matthias Lingg, Head of Engineering at ENVIRIA, specifically assigned an ENVIRIA project manager who had little previous experience with plant certificates. This was done in order to determine how much easier the process would really become through the cooperation with CarbonFreed. "The result was quite impressive," Lingg reflects. "The colleague was able to complete the certification process in just a few weeks. This means the colleagues in charge do not require such high levels of experience in the certification process as in the past. And even experienced engineers can work much more efficiently with the CarbonFreed process.”

Further collaboration planned

ENVIRIA promises its customers a radically simplified transition into solar energy. The new collaboration with CarbonFreed has the potential to make this process even more seamless. This is why a closer and longer-term cooperation with further projects and training is already in the making. With their ability to rapidly plan, implement, certify, and connect solar plants to the grid, CarbonFreed and ENVIRIA are perfectly equipped to help accelerate the German energy transition.

About CarbonFreed

CarbonFreed is a young greentech company from Schleswig-Holstein. Founded in 2020 by electrical engineer Marko Ibsch, the startup uses self-developed AI-supported digital platform "gridcert" to shorten the grid connection process of large photovoltaic plants from several months to just a few weeks, thus decisively moving the energy transition forward. Since its founding, the CarbonFreed team has successfully supported more than 600 plant certifications.

Further information: https://www.carbonfreed.com