BERLIN/BONN (dpa-AFX) - The number of balcony power plants in Germany is growing ever faster - and the small solar systems are to receive a further boost. On Thursday evening, the Bundestag will decide to make it easier for tenants and homeowners to install a balcony power plant. After the record quarter that has just ended, Carsten Kornig, Managing Director of the German Solar Industry Association, sees this as a "booster for the solarization of balconies". He expects a further surge in demand for so-called plug-in solar devices.

According to the Federal Network Agency's market master data register, more small solar systems went into operation in the second quarter than ever before. As of Wednesday, it showed more than 152,000 balcony power plants that went into operation from April to June. This is a huge increase of 52 percent on the previous record holder, the second quarter of 2023. In total, the market master data register currently shows a good 563,000 systems in operation. The actual figures are likely to be even higher, as there is a late registration period of several weeks and some systems are simply not registered.

Relief for tenants and homeowners

The Bundestag is discussing changes to tenancy law and condominium law. Until now, tenants have needed the express consent of their landlord to install a balcony power plant - or, as a condominium owner, the approval of the owners' association. This consent can currently be refused without any objective reason.

Now, electricity generation using plug-in solar devices is to be included in the catalog of so-called privileged measures. These are structural changes that cannot simply be blocked by landlords and condominium owners' associations (WEG) - for example, conversions for accessibility or burglary protection. Landlords and the condominium owners' association should still have a say when it comes to how exactly a plug-in solar device is installed on the house. However, whether such a system may be installed at all would then no longer be fundamentally controversial.

BSW praises "right to harvest solar power"

Kornig said that a "right to harvest solar power" would be enshrined in law. Daniel Fost, construction and housing policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group in the Bundestag, said that obstacles to balcony power plants would be removed. This was an important step that would enable major energy savings in households.

Green energy politician Katrin Uhlig praised the changes as making it even easier to install a plug-in solar system. "This will make it easier for even more people to participate in the energy transition and play an active role in shaping it."

SPD MP Daniel Rinkert believes that the changes will strengthen the energy transition within people's own four walls. This would enable tenants and owners to decide for themselves whether they want to install such devices in their homes. "We are thus enabling a simple, unbureaucratic way to reduce energy costs." He also pointed out that homeowners' meetings could become more digital.

Simplifications already agreed

The balcony power plants had already received a tailwind from Berlin in the past quarter. The registration of devices was simplified on April 1. A simplified registration in the Federal Network Agency's market master data register is now sufficient. A solar package is also in force - among other things, it allows the use of a normal socket for the systems, the temporary use of old, non-digital meters and a higher output of now 800 watts at the inverter instead of the previously valid 600 watts. Almost every reduction in bureaucracy leads to an increase in demand, says Kornig.

The current boom is also likely to have been fueled by lower prices. The BSW does not keep any statistics on this, says Kornig. However, he assumes "that - as with module prices - there have been price reductions in recent months". In DIY stores, balcony power plants have recently been available for a few hundred euros in some cases.

Profitable in three to six years according to RWTH Aachen University

Balcony power plants are relatively small solar systems that are connected to the household grid via a socket. They do not have to be connected to the balcony that gives them their name. The electricity they produce reduces consumption and therefore the electricity bill of their operators. Surplus electricity flows into the public grid free of charge. Whether they are worthwhile depends not only on the purchase price and location, but also on whether the operators consume the electricity during the time they are generating it. According to a recently published study by RWTH Aachen University on behalf of Eon, they are worthwhile on average from an operating time of three to six years./ruc/DP/zb