Solar pioneers in a bind

Erding - The 100,000 roofs program gave photovoltaics in Germany a huge boost from the turn of the millennium. The solar pioneers may have only dreamed of such a success of solar power 20 years later. But now PV system operators from the very beginning are facing a dilemma. The feed-in tariff according to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) is guaranteed for 20 years. That means: at the end of the year, the first plants will be withdrawn from funding. “The mean thing is that if you scrap the old system and install a new one, then it's more economical,” complains Herbert Maier.

The problem has been discussed for years, but the legislature has not yet submitted an amendment to the EEG, criticizes the Green City Council and advisor for climate protection and energy. His small PV system with an output of three kilowatts peak on the roof of the single-family house brought the now 61-year-old annual income of around 1500 euros, he calculates.

Maier knows that he more than recovered his investment costs at the time. But without the guaranteed EEG remuneration, feeding in from 2021 would not be profitable. "If I now receive the current electricity income from the exchange of four cents, then I would have an annual income of 120 euros." But according to the requirements of the EEG, he would have to install a new high-tech electricity meter that measures every quarter of an hour and sends the results to the network operator sends. "In the case of small systems, the fee for such a meter is higher than the expected income from the electricity feed," explains Maier - 540 euros per year, compared to the twelve euros he pays so far.

"Our recommendation is therefore: switch to the highest possible self-consumption," says Klaus Steiner, managing director of Stadtwerke Dorfen. Christopher Ruthner, Managing Director of Stadtwerke Erding, explains: "In the vast majority of cases, it will be worthwhile to convert the system to self-consumption." A private household could then use around 30 percent of the solar power generated. If an electricity storage system is installed, you even get around 80 percent. Such a battery in the basement costs a low five-digit amount.

Maier also relies on self-consumption. He will probably not install an electricity storage system for the time being, says the solar pioneer, who is one of the engines of the Energiewende association in the Erding district. With his old system, it would be around 900 kilowatt hours of electricity, which he would then no longer have to buy for around 28 cents. But there is a big catch: “Then I would have to destroy 70 percent of my own electricity. That is ecological madness. ”That would be the result of pure self-consumption without storage in an expensive battery and without feed-in at uneconomical conditions.

First of all, there is not yet a large number of systems: around 20 in the Erding municipal utilities area, around ten in the Dorfen municipal utilities area, as the companies say when asked. “At some point in five years, the topic will be very big,” explains Ruthner. In any case, his company will write to the affected customers in September and inform them of the situation.

“We also want to launch a new regional power product,” reports the managing director. Stadtwerke Erding planned to create an exchange where customers could offer and feed in ecologically generated electricity. Without such a special local solution, "direct marketing is not economically feasible" for small systems below seven kilowatts peak, explains his colleague from Stadtwerke Dorfen.

Ruthner relies on movement in Berlin. "We have a hard time assuming that the legislature will turn the legislative screw in the next two to three months." Steiner is convinced that the amendment will be presented in the fall.

“We need PV systems for the energy transition,” he explains. But there is also another side: “These people received funding for 20 years that was quite generous. We all notice that on our electricity bill. ”In the long term, the energy transition will only work under two conditions: with great acceptance by the entire population and, if it is possible to integrate renewable energies into the market. "With an extension of the funding status, you are not doing the idealists a favor either," said Steiner.