A package of measures is intended to accelerate the expansion of solar energy in Germany. It's all about less bureaucracy. However, there is no bonus to promote domestic modules.
Berlin - The traffic light coalition wants to give a boost to the expansion of solar energy. After long negotiations, the government factions SPD, Greens and FDP agreed on a solar package, as they announced in Berlin on Monday. According to reports, there had been agreement on the project for a long time, but it was linked to a controversial reform of the Climate Protection Act - but there has now been an agreement on this too. The Bundestag is expected to approve the solar package next week, then it still has to pass the Bundesrat. This is what's inside:
The importance of solar energy
Along with wind energy, solar energy is an important pillar of the energy transition - the gradual departure from fossil energies such as coal and gas. The federal government's goal is: by 2030, 80 percent of electricity should come from renewable energies. Last year it was more than half.
Last year, the expansion of solar power increased significantly: According to figures from the Federal Network Agency, the expansion almost doubled compared to the previous year to 14.1 gigawatts. This is due to numerous private systems, and there has also been an increased expansion of solar systems on commercial roofs and open spaces. At the end of 2023, according to the Federal Network Agency, the total installed capacity in Germany was 81.7 gigawatts. This means that 19 gigawatts would have to be added annually in the future in order to achieve the expansion target of 215 gigawatts for solar in 2030.
According to the federal government's draft law on the solar package, half of the new solar systems should be on buildings, especially roofs, and the other half on open spaces such as fields.
Facilitation for balcony power plants
The cabinet had already launched the package last August, but the process dragged on due to the dispute over the climate protection law. A wide variety of measures are included to make expansion easier and therefore faster. Municipalities could plan and implement wind and solar parks more easily and quickly, said Green Party deputy Julia Verlinden. “And millions of citizens can save money even more easily with balcony solar at home and do something good for climate protection.” FDP parliamentary group deputy Lukas Köhler said that people can look forward to significantly less bureaucracy and faster procedures if they want to buy a solar system .
In the case of balcony power plants, which are becoming increasingly popular, it is intended that they no longer have to be reported to the network operator. Registration in the Federal Network Agency's market master data register should be sufficient. Registration should be easier and limited to a few details. Meters should not have to be retrofitted and small balcony solar systems should also be able to be more efficient in the future.
In addition, hurdles for so-called tenant electricity, where the electricity for a residential building comes from the on-site solar system, should be reduced. Solar on the roof should become significantly more attractive with improved funding conditions, increased funding rates and uncomplicated billing options for self-used electricity.
In addition, solar systems on commercial buildings such as supermarkets or factories as well as on company parking lots should be promoted and solar systems on arable land should be promoted.
There is also one point about the expansion of wind energy: so-called acceleration areas should be introduced under European law in order to accelerate the expansion.
No bonus for the domestic solar industry
The Greens in particular wanted a “resilience bonus” to promote the domestic solar industry. The background is much cheaper modules from China. However, the FDP rejected new subsidies, citing additional costs for electricity consumers. Federal Finance Minister and FDP leader Christian Lindner said that solar modules were available on the global market and that they were “not high-tech”.
FDP parliamentary group vice-president Köhler said on Monday: “There will be no resilience bonus to subsidize individual companies at the expense of the general public.” The deputy SPD parliamentary group leader Matthias Miersch said that the parliamentary groups are calling on the federal government to implement the so-called at EU level Net Zero Industry Act must be implemented quickly and, in particular, the domestic solar industry should be strengthened.
At the end of March, the Meyer Burger company finally closed its location in Freiberg, Saxony. The approximately 500 employees were therefore laid off. The company had made the future of the Freiberg location dependent on government support. dpa