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From Luisa Zenker
Balcony power plants are particularly popular in Saxony. Last year, the Free State was the leader in relation to the number of inhabitants. So far this year, 10,675 such systems have been installed on private balconies to harness the sun's energy. These are figures from the Federal Network Agency. This puts Saxony in the lead among the eastern German states. Across Germany, more than 300,000 such systems went into operation this year.
The boom is also being felt by the eastern Saxon energy supplier Sachsen-Energie, with 6,582 balcony power plants registered in the electricity grid in 2023, compared to 4,238 this year. Spokeswoman Nora Weinhold explains the rush with the solar package 1 passed by the federal government. Since it came into force in spring, plug-in solar devices only have to be registered with the Federal Network Agency and no longer with the grid operator. Tenants can also receive a subsidy of 300 euros for a balcony power plant. For owners, the pot has already been exhausted this year.
Waiting times of two to three months
The energy suppliers did not expect such high demand. As a result, there are waiting times of more than three months before customers receive the feed-in tariff. Anyone who produces more electricity than they need can feed it into the public grid. They receive around 8 cents per kilowatt hour for this, provided a corresponding meter is available.
The grid operator Sachsen-Netze, part of Sachsen-Energie, has hired more than 50 additional specialists to process applications for balcony power plants, among other things. "We are in the process of simplifying and further digitalizing the registration process for larger rooftop systems," says Weinhold. She promises customers: "No money will be lost as long as all legal requirements are met."
Across Germany, Saxony will see the strongest growth in solar energy in 2024. As the amount of land used by the systems increases, the trend towards using roofs is growing. Several federal states have therefore already introduced a PV obligation for houses, depending on whether it applies to public buildings or new buildings. There is no such requirement in Saxony.
There is a lack of solar installations on public buildings
This is one reason why there are few solar installations on municipal roofs in Dresden compared to other major cities. According to a study by Viessmann Climate Solutions, the state capital is in 17th place, with 96 solar installations on public buildings. The leaders are Berlin with 543, Munich with 326 and Stuttgart with 253 modules on schools and public authorities.
Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony also perform below average in a federal state comparison: all three have a share of 0.6 and 0.7 percent of municipal solar installations respectively. These federal states have "catch-up potential", according to the study directors. In Hesse, on the other hand, 1.44 percent of all solar modules are located on public buildings.
