Balcony power plant: almost anyone can now use solar energy

The sun and water once made life on earth possible. In order to promote the use of solar energy in the face of the climate crisis, the Bundestag and Bundesrat have passed the solar package. Among other things, balcony power plants are now to become quicker and easier to utilise.

The solar package contains numerous measures that enable the expansion of solar energy and its dissemination in society. The accelerated expansion of renewable energies is crucial to achieving the climate targets. Mini solar systems on balconies or photovoltaic systems on apartment blocks are to be made possible with less red tape. In future, private individuals will be able to operate mini solar systems without having to go through complex application procedures. The extensive regulations for solar systems on fields and farmland will be abolished and landlords will be able to produce photovoltaic electricity for their tenants in apartment blocks.

In practice, not all the details have yet been clarified, but the legal path is clear. This involves the changeover from the upper limit for socket feed-in that was previously standard in Germany to the internationally standard 800 volt-amperes. The solar package now removes the 600 volt-ampere limit for most socket solar systems. Once the law comes into force, balcony systems will no longer have to be registered with the grid operator, but only with the regulatory authority in the market master data register.

Stiftung Warentest tested commercially available balcony power stations. Although all of them were able to generate and directly consume electricity, three systems failed the test because their inverters interfered with other electrical appliances or wireless connections. Only one out of eight systems is good. The systems cost between 500 and 900 euros. The systems cost between 500 and 900 euros. The prices are on the move, with a downward trend. The test results show which inverters cause problems, which balcony solar systems supply the most electricity and which power plant was the test winner.

Tip: You can find the test results at www.test.de/balkonkraftwerk-test-5501703-0 (for 4.90 euros).

(Photo: © Torsten Simon, Pixabay)