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Glossary · Energy industry & energy transition

Gross Metering

Gross metering photovoltaics Feed-in Self-Consumption Billing

Gross metering (in German roughly "Bruttomessung") is a metering and billing model for distributed generation plants, usually a photovoltaic system. Generation and consumption are recorded separately and also valued separately. They are not offset against each other. In the most common form, the operator sells the entire quantity of electricity generated at a fixed feed-in tariff. At the same time, the operator buys all of their consumption from the grid at the normal retail tariff. Because the two tariffs usually differ in level, two separate payment flows arise: a credit for generation and a normal electricity bill for consumption.

The reference quantity is energy in kilowatt hours, not power in kilowatts. An example: a system with a peak output of 10 kilowatts delivers close to 10 kilowatt hours in one hour only under very favourable conditions. In heat, cloud cover or low sun, it is considerably less. For billing, therefore, only the measured energy quantity, summed over a period, counts.

Distinction from net metering

The opposite model is net metering. Here, grid consumption and feed-in are offset against each other within a billing period. If a household draws 3,000 kilowatt hours from the grid and feeds in 2,000 kilowatt hours, it pays, depending on the rules, only for the difference of 1,000 kilowatt hours. Every kilowatt hour fed in is thus effectively worth as much as the retail price. With gross metering, by contrast, the operator usually receives a feed-in tariff that is below the retail price. For prosumers it is therefore often less lucrative. For this reason, some distribution companies, for example in India, have proposed a switch from net metering to gross metering.

There is also a difference in metering technology. With classic net metering, a bidirectional meter at the grid connection measures only the balance. The utility cannot see how much the household consumes in total or how much the system behind the meter generates. With gross metering, by contrast, separate measured values arise for generation and consumption, typically via two meters or a suitable meter cascade.

Distinction from self-consumption and surplus feed-in

Self-consumption means that the electricity from a system is consumed on site at the same time, instead of flowing into the public grid. In the pure gross metering model, self-consumption plays no role in the calculation. All generation counts as sold, all consumption as bought. Self-consumption then saves nothing. The earlier text said that gross metering could "favour" self-consumption. That is misleading: self-consumption is favoured only by a different billing form, surplus feed-in.

There is also a conceptual difference. Separate measurement of gross generation, for example via a dedicated generation meter, also exists for systems with surplus feed-in. But that is not yet gross metering in the billing sense. What matters is whether the gross quantities are also paid for separately. The term is not used uniformly internationally. In glossaries and market information, it predominantly stands for the "sell everything, buy everything" model.

Context in Germany: full feed-in under EEG 2023

The German counterpart to gross metering is full feed-in (Volleinspeisung). The operator feeds all of the electricity from their system into the grid. The residents of the building are supplied by a supplier of their choice like ordinary final consumers. Unlike in the initial case, however, the EEG pays not for the quantity generated but for the quantity fed in. For solar systems on buildings, the feed-in tariff or the market premium increases noticeably with full feed-in under § 48 para. 2a EEG 2023. The Bundesnetzagentur cites an increase of more than 50 percent compared with the support for surplus feed-in. There is no additional tenant electricity surcharge (Mieterstromzuschlag) for this fed-in electricity.

According to the explanations of the Clearingstelle EEG|KWKG (text version of 12 January 2026), the so-called full feed-in bonus is subject mainly to these requirements:

  • The solar system was commissioned after 29 July 2022 and is installed exclusively on, at or in a building or on a noise barrier.

  • All of the electricity generated is fed in for a whole calendar year. Only the technical power plant self-consumption of the system and its ancillary and auxiliary installations is permitted.

  • The operator notifies the grid operator in text form that it is feeding in fully: for new systems before commissioning, otherwise before 1 December with effect for the following year. Merely stating the metering concept "full feed-in" is not sufficient.

  • For commissioning from 1 January 2023, the bonus is available for system capacity up to and including 1 megawatt. For systems commissioned between 30 July and 31 December 2022, the limit is 300 kilowatts.

  • The quantities fed in must be recorded with a metering device that complies with metering and calibration law (mess- und eichrechtskonform). Anyone who switches to surplus feed-in mid-year loses the bonus: the applicable value (anzulegender Wert) falls to the market value for that year, and a payment to the grid operator may additionally become due.

Two systems can also be combined: a full feed-in system and a surplus system, for example on the same roof. Each system then needs its own metering device, and the grid operator must be told in advance which of the two receives the bonus. This variant shows that gross metering and self-consumption can coexist at one site, as long as the quantities are cleanly measured separately.

International example: remuneration of total generation

The fact that the quantity generated is itself remunerated is not a thought experiment. The British Feed-in Tariff scheme paid a generation tariff per kilowatt hour generated and, separately, an export tariff. For small systems up to 30 kilowatts without an export meter, the export is assumed to be a fixed share of generation (deemed export). The scheme has been closed to new applications since 1 April 2019. Existing installations continue to receive payments. The example shows that very different billing rules can stand under the label "gross". One should therefore always check which quantity is remunerated, the generated or the fed-in one.

Why separate measurement is relevant

With pure net metering, information is lost. The actual generation, the total consumption, and the question of whether a low electricity bill results from low demand or from high own generation all remain invisible. Separate measured values help in several areas. Support can be tied precisely to quantities. Guarantees of origin and statistics rely on measured generation. Suppliers and balance responsible parties can balance consumption and feed-in separately.

The separation is also important because the price components serve different purposes. The energy price pays for electricity procurement. Network charges finance the infrastructure. Levies and taxes follow their own legal objectives. With netting, fed-in solar electricity is, in calculation terms, credited at the full retail price, that is, including network and sales costs. With gross metering, by contrast, feed-in is usually valued at a separate, lower rate. This is one of the main reasons for the differing profitability of the models.

Economic effect for prosumers

For prosumers, the result depends mainly on the gap between the feed-in tariff and the purchase price. If the feed-in tariff is well below the purchase price, gross metering usually pays off worse than net metering or surplus feed-in. If it is high, however, gross metering can be attractive. This applies especially where hardly any self-consumption is possible at the site, for example on halls, barns or unused buildings. Full feed-in in Germany is therefore worthwhile mainly for systems with little simultaneous consumption. Where a lot of electricity can be used on site, surplus feed-in is often more favourable, because every kilowatt hour consumed on site replaces more expensive grid consumption.

This effect follows from the price rules, not from the technology. A battery storage system does not increase yield in the pure gross metering model, because self-consumption brings no advantage there. With surplus feed-in, by contrast, it can reduce grid consumption. With German full feed-in, a storage system must be integrated in such a way that the requirement "all electricity into the grid" remains met. That is a question of the metering concept in the individual case.

Typical misunderstandings

  • Gross metering is in itself neither grid-supportive nor hostile to consumers. Fairness and grid burden are decided only by the tariffs, remuneration and obligations applied to the measured values.

  • Gross metering describes an accounting allocation. Where the electricity physically flows, by contrast, depends on the system wiring and the grid conditions. What matters for billing is that the metering concept records the remunerated quantity unambiguously and in compliance with calibration law.

  • More measured values do not automatically mean better control. If the values are read only annually, the time value of electricity remains invisible. For a system with a lot of weather-dependent generation, quarter-hourly values and time-variable tariffs are needed so that flexibility can be valued at all.

  • Gross metering is not the same as a feed-in tariff. A feed-in tariff can also be combined with surplus feed-in. Gross metering only describes which quantities are billed separately.

Role in the power system

With growing distributed generation, it becomes more important where exactly measurement takes place. A connection can feed in at midday, draw in the evening and charge a storage system in between. Separate measured values make this multiple role visible. This is also relevant for grid financing. If self-consumption is strongly favoured, the billed grid consumption falls, even though the connection still needs grid capacity. With purely volume-based charges, this can shift costs to households without their own system. Gross metering keeps consumption and generation visible separately. However, it does not by itself solve the distribution of grid costs. That requires charge structures that also take connection capacity and the timing of grid load into account.

In summary, gross metering denotes above all a billing model and not merely a meter type. Generation and consumption are measured separately and priced separately. Anyone using the term should disclose three things: whether the generated or the fed-in quantity is remunerated, at what rate, and in what time resolution measurement takes place. Only this information shows whether a debate is about a metering problem or about the question of who bears which costs.

Sources

Related glossary entries

Edited by eCMS on 12.11.2026 05:05

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