How fuse protection helps PV installers in the Netherlands

Fuse protection, combined with an advanced home energy management system (HEMS), ensures that new PV installations can operate smoothly within existing fuse limits, reducing installation roadblocks and preventing costly service calls. Without it, customers may face expensive grid upgrades, frequent fuse trips or breaks, or be limited in installed PV capacity and energy-consuming assets – all of which impact an installer's reputation and efficiency.

Growing challenge of Dutch grid congestion

The first signs of congestion in the Netherlands appeared in 2018 when solar PV parks in the northern provinces of Drenthe and Groningen began overwhelming the grid. Today, most provinces are at or near capacity, restricting new business connections and slowing the energy transition. In response, the government introduced the National Grid Congestion Action Programme in 2022 to tackle high-voltage grid limitations, with similar strategies planned for low-voltage grids.

Between 2024 and 2040, electricity demand is expected to nearly triple, driven by the rise in heat pumps, electric vehicle (EV) charging and battery storage. For PV installers, this results in an increasing need to optimize installations to work within existing grid constraints – making fuse protection a crucial tool for preventing issues before they arise.

What is fuse protection?

Fuse protection is a critical component of overload protection, ensuring circuits do not exceed safe operating limits and preventing inconvenient service disruptions. Every household connects to the grid via a main fuse, which safeguards the system by cutting off power when the current surpasses a specific threshold. This protects electrical components from overheating, reducing the risk of damage or even fire.

Distributed energy resources (DERs) draw more energy from the grid than traditional household appliances, so homes with assets, such as solar PV, battery storage and EV chargers, that operate simultaneously, run the risk of exceeding the fuse limit increases, leading to frequent trips and power disruptions. To mitigate this, an intelligent fuse protection system dynamically manages power distribution, ensuring that the total household load remains within the fuse’s capacity.

For a more detailed look at fuse protection, see our Knowledge page.

How does fuse protection work?

Fuse protection is a key overload protection mechanism that continuously monitors power consumption at the household’s grid connection point and dynamically adjusts energy usage to prevent the fuse limit being breached. This limit can apply to the total amount of power drawn from the grid or be specific to each phase in a multi-phase system.

In electrical systems, it’s common to see 1-phase (single-phase) and 3-phase (three-phase). The two phase setups refer to how power is distributed. A 1-phase connection has a single live cable carrying voltage relative to a neutral cable, while a 3-phase connection uses three live cables, allowing for higher overall power capacity. This distinction is also relevant for energy-consuming assets – some devices operate on a single phase, while others, like high-power EV chargers and heat pumps, require all three phases. Fuse protection ensures that power stays within safe limits across all phases, preventing overloads and optimizing energy distribution.

How fuse protection happens

1. Real-time monitoring: An energy meter measures power flows in real time at the grid connection point. This meter then sends the measurements to the HEMS, which compares the household consumption against fuse ratings and safety margins.
2. Automated load management: If the total current approaches the fuse limit, the HEMS prioritizes which devices should adjust their power consumption. The fastest responding asset with the lowest user priority is adjusted first.
3. Dynamic power allocation: To stay within safe thresholds, the system either reduces the power draw of controllable assets (e.g., limiting EV charging speed or reducing heat pump operation) or increases battery discharge to balance the load.
4. Grid-friendly operation: Ensures compliance with potential capacity tariffs, helping customers avoid high peak charges and unnecessary grid strain.

Fuse protection is only effective when delivered constantly. This gives gridX’s hybrid solution that provides both local control (the gridBox) and cloud-based optimization a clear advantage. Unlike cloud-only solutions, which have limited processing power and no offline functionality,a local gateway processes data at high resolution and reacts instantly to sudden changes in the household load or PV production to prevent overloads. This ensures continuous operability and protection, as opposed to purely cloud-based solutions, which would fail during internet outages or service downtimes.

Fuse protection is like playing Tetris. You have the three columns – the three phases – and you want the “bricks” of energy to fall correctly into place. The only difference is, in the real world, you cannot choose which phase column each asset’s energy falls into. This is why you need fuse protection.” – Hubert Fenet Ménou, Energy Engineer, gridX

How fuse protection works for PV installers

While protecting a fuse from tripping may seem obvious (i.e., not losing power), there are other reasons PV installers should care about fuse protection:

• Simplify installations: Many Dutch homes have small 1-phase grid connections, limiting how much power they can handle. Fuse protection ensures PV, batteries and EV chargers can work together without exceeding limits.
• Prevent phase imbalance issues: When a 1-phase inverter is installed in a 3-phase home, self-sufficiency is often lost due to power being exported on one phase while power is imported on the others. Fuse protection optimizes energy flow across all phases, maximizing solar power use.
• Avoid costly grid upgrades for customers: Many homeowners believe they need to upgrade their grid connection to install PV, which can be expensive and time-consuming. Fuse protection allows them to make full use of their existing capacity, making installations easier to approve and complete.
• Reduce risk of fuse tripping: Without proper management, solar exports and EV charging can cause sudden load spikes, tripping the fuse and requiring service calls. Fuse protection prevents overloads before they happen.

Fuse protection in the Netherlands

The Netherlands is often used as an example of a country that is knocking the energy transition out of the park. The country has one of the highest rates of EV charge points per capita and, in 2024, green energy accounted for 54% of their total power production. Grid congestion, however, remains one of the greatest barriers for the country realizing its full clean energy potential.

The grid challenge in the Netherlands

The Dutch government has set ambitious climate targets, aiming to be climate-neutral by 2050, with the power sector achieving this by 2035. A key challenge is the shift away from natural gas to electric heating. The goal is to convert 1.5 million of the country’s 8 million homes to gas-free heating by 2030 and phasing out gas entirely by 2050.

To achieve this, the country needs to massively reconstruct and expand its grid, which is not only expensive, but comes with considerable complexities too. According to a 2023 study by the Environmental Planning Agency, grid expansion in the Netherlands will not be able to keep pace with new user requests if the 2035 timeline is to be met. The study also stated that congestion issues will not be resolved before 2030. 

To finance the costs for this, grid operators will need to enact more grid tariffs. In a joint study by consulting firm Berenschot and Netbeheer Nederland, the Netherlands’s association for electric and gas network operators, Hans-Peter Oskam, Director of Policy and Energy Transition at Netbeheer Nederland, said: “Grid operators are concerned about the rising grid tariffs and strive to keep it as affordable as possible for all connections. The grid costs are now the same for almost all households, regardless of how much and when you use electricity. Households with low consumption hardly burden the grid and therefore pay proportionally much more in grid costs than households that, with solar panels, a heat pump and a charging station, require much more capacity from the grid. The latter group may pay more, but they too can limit the costs by planning their consumption smartly.” 

Regional struggles and policy responses

Certain regions, particularly Northern Holland, have faced severe grid congestion due to a combination of factors: increased housing construction, urban migration, large data centers located at the end of major internet connections and an influx of utility-scale solar PV installations attracted by relatively cheap land in the northeast. As a result, the majority of the local grid can no longer accommodate new energy users requiring connections above 3×80 Ampère (A). While the low-voltage grid can still serve smaller consumers, including households and charging stations, capacity is expected to be fully utilized within the next two to five years.

To address these challenges, the National Grid Congestion Action Programme, developed in collaboration with distribution system operators (DSOs) and TenneT, focuses on three key initiatives:

• Accelerating grid expansion for a more stable infrastructure
• Creating incentives for more efficient grid use to optimize capacity
• Encouraging flexible energy consumption to balance supply and demand

Achieving these initiatives involves a combination of both quick fixes and long-term action. For example, quick fixes for accelerating grid expansion would be standardizing the application and assessment process or moving the responsibility for permits from the municipal level to the provincial or regional level to avoid confusion and bundle more steps. A long-term action would be revising the network tariff structure (e.g., introducing time of use network tariffs for consumers or network tariffs for producers).

The role of fuse protection in the Netherlands

Many Dutch households have historically relied on natural gas for heating and cooking, leading to electrical grids designed to carry an average household load of just 1.5 kW. However, the standard connection capacity allows for 8 kW (1-phase) or 17 kW (3-phase), meaning households can add significant electrical loads without requiring explicit approval from DSOs. 

As grid congestion intensifies, smart fuse protection is essential to ensure households remain within safe limits.

1-Phase vs. 3-Phase connections

• 1-Phase: Traditionally, Dutch homes have single-phase connections (230V) with one electricity cable feeding the home’s circuits. Appliances like dishwashers and washing machines are each assigned to individual groups, and circuit breakers trip when current draw exceeds safe levels. However, with increasing electrification – especially from heat pumps and EVs – these connections are more prone to overloads.
• 3-Phase: Some households have three-phase connections (400V), allowing power distribution across multiple circuits to prevent overloads. However, intelligent energy management is still needed to ensure balanced distribution and prevent inefficient energy use.

The need for smart energy management in the Netherlands

Given the increasing grid constraints and rising network tariffs – expected to grow by 4.8% to 6.7% annually between 2024 and 2040 – intelligent energy management is essential. Many Dutch households still rely on small grid connections, making it easy to overload their fuse limits as they install more electricity-consuming devices like heat pumps, EV chargers and solar inverters.

To encourage more grid-friendly energy consumption, policymakers are exploring solutions like capacity tariffs, which are similar to those already implemented in countries like Belgium and Sweden. In Belgium, under a capacity tariff model, households are charged based on their peak electricity demand rather than just total consumption. This pricing mechanism incentivizes users to spread out their energy use, avoiding high peaks that strain the grid and drive up costs. In Sweden, the fixed component of network tariffs for residential customers has traditionally been based on the size of their main fuse. A smaller fuse size indicates a lower capacity connection, leading to reduced fixed charges. This also makes intelligent fuse protection essential for staying within affordable limits while maintaining energy flexibility.

By offering fuse protection as part of an advanced HEMS, Dutch installers can help homeowners:

• Prevent costly grid upgrades
• Maximize solar self-sufficiency
• Avoid fuse trips and peak demand charges
• Future-proof their energy setup

Fuse protection in other European countries

While fuse protection is critical in the Netherlands due to grid congestion and increasing electrification, other European countries face similar challenges that make smart energy management essential.

• Belgium: With rising transmission tariffs and the introduction of capacity-based network charges in Flanders, households are incentivized to reduce peak electricity consumption. Fuse protection helps prevent overloads while optimizing energy use to lower costs.
  
• Sweden: Many Swedish homes have relatively small grid connections, often between 16 A and 25 A, meaning they can easily exceed their limits when adding EV chargers, heat pumps or other high-consumption devices. Fuse protection ensures power distribution stays within safe levels, avoiding costly upgrades to larger grid connections.
  
• Denmark: As a leader in renewable energy, Denmark’s growing share of electrified heating and transportation increases strain on local grids. Similar to Sweden, homes often have limited grid capacity, making fuse protection crucial for balancing energy use and preventing costly disruptions.

Across these countries, integrating fuse protection into a HEMS allows households to safely scale up their energy consumption while supporting grid stability and keeping costs under control.

How gridX’s HEMS helps

So, should companies and homeowners wait years for grid extensions? No, because that will take considerable time, money and bureaucracy, the energy transition must happen now. Instead, maximizing self-sufficiency and shifting energy use to off-peak times is the most effective way to reduce strain on the grid and ensure long-term energy resilience. Governments are already introducing financial incentives to encourage smarter energy management, making it more crucial than ever for businesses to provide solutions that help customers optimize their electricity use.

Fuse protection is a key feature of any advanced HEMS, ensuring that households can safely increase their electricity consumption without the risk of expensive grid upgrades, blown fuses or disruptions. By dynamically managing power distribution and preventing overloads, it enables grid-friendly energy consumption – helping not just individual households but also the wider energy system.

An EMS with fuse protection allows users to maximize the potential of each individual asset and the entire setup within the house’s grid connection, while guaranteeing that the total grid feed-in or consumption never overloads any fuse." – Robert Matjeschk, Product Manager HEMS Energy Optimizer, gridX

According to Robert Matjeschk, gridX’s Product Manager for the HEMS Energy Optimizer: “New energy assets such as PV plants, batteries, EV chargers and heat pumps can provide great value for homeowners in terms of cheap and environmentally-friendly charging and heating, but a grid connection point with a low power capacity can be a great burden. If uncontrolled, each asset would have to be significantly limited to prevent grid overloads. An EMS with fuse protection allows users to maximize the potential of each individual asset and the entire setup within the house’s grid connection, while guaranteeing that the total grid feed-in or consumption never overloads any fuse.”

A HEMS solution with fuse protection enables:

• Time-based optimization: Aligns EV charging and battery discharge with off-peak times.
• Seamless integration: Works with gridBox and XENON EMS for complete energy automation.
• Intelligent operation: Ensures energy drawn from the grid always stays within the fuse limits even during times of off-peak pricing (i.e., if the fuse capacity is already at the max, the HEMS will not draw power from the grid just because it’s cheap).
• Smart export limitation: Reduces solar feed-in during peak grid congestion hours.

By integrating gridX’s HEMS with fuse protection, PV installers can provide a grid-friendly, future-proof energy management solution that keeps customers happy, reduces installation headaches and supports the Dutch energy transition.

Don’t let grid limits slow you down

As electrification accelerates, household energy setups are becoming more complex and outdated. At the same time, grid constraints and rising network tariffs – especially potential capacity tariffs – are pushing for smarter energy management.

For PV installers, offering overload protection through fuse protection and an advanced HEMS provides a competitive edge by preventing disruptions and optimizing self-sufficiency, ensuring seamless solar installations while helping customers avoid costly grid fees. With gridX’s HEMS solution, installers can further improve PV system efficiency by aligning solar exports with off-peak periods, minimizing curtailment and making installations future-proof.