More and more politicians are speaking out in favor of a possible solar roof requirement.
Some cities and federal states are already doing it - is there a nationwide obligation?
Munich / Berlin - More and more politicians are speaking out in favor of a possible obligation for solar systems on house roofs.
So did the Green Chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock at the Chancellor Triell on Sunday evening (August 29).
Also in the election manifesto of the Greens there is talk of a solar roof requirement from 2022 for new buildings and renovations.
But not only the Greens seem to have taken a liking to it.
Now CDU Economics Minister Peter Altmaier is also explicitly calling for more solar roofs in Germany.
In an interview with the German Press Agency (dpa), Altmaier spoke out in favor of investment advances for this.
He is even considering introducing a "tolerance obligation" for unwilling homeowners.
Much more solar roofs are needed than before, although there are already high expansion goals, said Altmaier.
Minister of Economic Affairs Altmaier for the obligation to tolerate solar roofs
In order to enable the expansion of the solar roofs, the Minister of Economic Affairs wanted to upgrade urban and state-owned buildings in particular.
To this end, he wants to clarify with the federal government, states and municipalities, “that solar systems, i.e. either photovoltaics or solar thermal energy, or a mix of both will be installed on all new public buildings.” Existing buildings should also “as soon as possible”, but by 2028 at the latest , can be retrofitted.
The same should also apply to commercial buildings and large rental housing complexes.
Altmaier does not consider a solar obligation on private houses to be right, since not everyone can afford the installation of photovoltaics or solar thermal systems. However, the minister could imagine a "tolerance obligation" or investment advances for solar systems. In the case of an investment advance, the system would belong to the homeowner, but for this the advance would have to be repaid to a certain extent with the income from the photovoltaic system.
"In the case of the obligation to tolerate, third parties, such as the municipality, would have the option of installing solar systems at their own expense in return for an appropriate share of the proceeds from the owner," explains the minister in an interview.
Homeowners would be forced to make their roofs available for solar panels.
This means that the goals of the energy transition can be achieved without "inappropriately interfering with private investment freedom."
Can a solar roof requirement be legally implemented in Germany?
As the Berlin lawyer Uwe Bottermann
explains to
the
world
,
such an obligation to tolerate would be entirely possible.
“From a legal point of view, the proposal can initially be classified as a definition of the content or limitation of property under Article 14 of the Basic Law,” he says.
In order for a tolerance obligation to be conceivable, the government only had to create a corresponding law.
Similar laws exist, for example, in the infrastructure, where property owners have to guarantee the power supply.
In a second step, the proportionality of the obligation would have to be assessed.
“The law should therefore serve a legitimate purpose - one of which is climate protection.
In addition, the measure must be 'suitable' to promote this purpose - which can be assumed for solar power production, ”says Botterman.
So there is not much in the way of an obligation to tolerate solar systems.
However, the federal government would have to check beforehand whether there are “alternative measures with less depth of intervention,” explains the lawyer.
This could, for example, be more subsidies for solar systems operated by homeowners themselves.
In addition, questions of liability law still need to be clarified.
Solar roof compulsory in Germany?
Experts are critical of the obligation to tolerate
The head of the Association of Municipal Enterprises, Ingbert Liebing, told the dpa that an investment advance was a good idea, although it did not differ significantly from existing KfW loans. However, the association is critical of the obligation to tolerate: "All roofs are different: be it in terms of statics, alignment or with a view to questions of liability." Therefore, models based on voluntariness would be more effective.
The Ministry of Economics 'proposal also goes too far for the owners' association Haus und Grund.
"With the solar roof obligation, the owner is denied another and possibly more economical way of using his roof, for example roof greening, roof terrace, roof garden or even the later increase of the attic floor for residential purposes," said Corinna Kodim, managing director of the Association of the
World
.
Pioneers in cities and countries: mandatory solar roofs have already been introduced in some regions
In some major German cities, the solar roof requirement is already a reality.
Such an obligation was already decided in Hamburg at the end of 2020.
From 2023, all new buildings there must have a photovoltaic system on the roof.
From 2025, when renovating existing roofs, a solar power system must also be installed.
The same is true in Berlin and Bremen.
With Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, the first federal states have already introduced mandatory solar roofs.
In Baden-Württemberg, house builders must install a photovoltaic or solar thermal system from May 1, 2022.
In Bavaria, however, the details are still open.