A sunny day: Not only does it please all day-trippers, but also owners of photovoltaic systems.
The community of Wildsteig is also hoping for a lot of nice weather in the future, because it wants to invest in several places in the village.
But there is uncertainty.
Wildsteig
- The Wildsteiger team with their Sonnentach GbR have been helping out with the energy transition since 2003. Numerous photovoltaic systems can be seen on the roofs in the village. The municipality would also like to rely on self-generated electricity and therefore had it checked which of its buildings and properties are suitable for PV systems. If everything goes smoothly, the community hall will get something on the roof this year, and the sewage treatment plant is also in focus.
The two buildings turned out to be particularly interesting after two tests.
Last year, Andreas Scharli, a consultant from the Competence Center for the Energy Transition Oberland (EWO), of which the Wildsteig community is a member, examined all the options in the area.
With the new knowledge in their luggage, the local council then commissioned the Peitingen company “VS plan & advise GBR” to make specific calculations: for the sewage treatment plant, the community hall and an open space in Schildschwaig.
Sewage treatment plant: is it worth it despite a lot of shadows?
Unlike Scharli, who only considered an adjacent open space to be suitable for the sewage treatment plant, the company considers a PV system on the roof of the building to be sensible - despite the relatively high degree of shade in the house surrounded by forest. This would require modules that can not only process direct sunlight, but also so-called diffuse light. VS project manager Michael Klein presented his calculations to the local council in May, assuming an amortization period of around 17 years if the system had an output of 92 kWp and three storage tanks with 22.4 kWh each were installed. During this time, the municipality would have recouped the costs of around 180,000 euros with self-generated electricity. “They're all maintenance-free batteries,” said Klein. They can be kept for around 20 years.
Taffertshofer is skeptical that the wastewater treatment plant really gets as much sun as calculated.
"We have concerns, we would like to have it checked again," he said in an interview with the local newspaper.
And there is also skepticism in the local council.
Florian Lang (Wildsteig voter list) therefore followed up, as he reported to the committee on Tuesday.
"There's a bunch of question marks," he said.
"I think it would be good if we could get another offer."
Better to measure half a year than just calculate
He and Taffertshofer intend to install a device on the sewage treatment plant this year that will record the solar radiation for six months.
Then reliable data would be available.
"I think that the sewage treatment plant was viewed too optimistically," said Taffertshofer.
"And the well too pessimistic."
The latter is in Schildschwaig. Klein advised against setting up a PV system there in an open space. It would take more than 20 years for it to pay off. Calculated on a small scale with costs of around 290,000 euros. Taffertshofer cannot understand the high sum. "I also don't understand why the system shouldn't be worth it," said Lang.
There is less uncertainty about the topic of the community hall. According to Klein, there is little shade there. He calculated a system with an output of 9.86 kWp and a storage unit with 7.5 kWh. The costs of around 32,000 euros should be back in around 15.5 years. Klein's calculation contained a mistake: he assumed that the modules should be directly on the hall. “We will have a problem statically, we mean the administration building,” said Taffertshofer. The town hall chief is convinced, however, that "hardly anything" should change with a recalculation.
Taffertshofer therefore hopes that at least the PV system on the administration building will still be possible this year - but the municipal council has to decide on the construction first. In addition, the committee has the choice of the sewage treatment plant and the open space: have it re-examined or follow the advice. The subject comes back on the agenda. "Let's talk to each other again now."
