Solar on the balcony: In Schliersee it is at least conceivable

Created: 12/22/2022, 6:07 p.m

Imaginable: The Greens could make friends with solar panels framed in wood.

© Rüdiger Brechler, DGS NRW

At the request of the Greens, the Schliersee municipal council is approaching the previously taboo topic, but is first getting expert advice.

Schliersee – Only recently the Schliersee building committee rejected solar systems on balconies, but it was already clear back then that this cannot be the last word.

In the meantime, there was a motion at the citizens' assembly aimed at allowing such systems, and the Greens parliamentary group in the municipal council also gave some thought, which has now resulted in its own motion.

As a result, Schliersee sets out to pave the way for electricity generation on balconies in some way, but does not rush into anything.

The decision of the building committee had caused uncertainty

Gerhard Waas (Greens) had already let the building committee know: No to the corresponding applications was "not a doctrine".

In the municipal council, he now said that he had received some reactions to the decision.

"We've had that for years," was one.

This is also mentioned in the application now submitted.

The owners of such systems have relied on the attribute "permission-free" and are now unsettled.

"We should talk about something like that," Waas said.

Unclear: Are solar systems on balconies really prohibited by statute

The no to solar on the balcony is stipulated in the design statute.

However, Schliersee repeatedly went swimming with the set of rules in court.

In the course of the necessary revision, one could also tackle the balcony regulation, especially since, according to Waas, it stands on feet of clay anyway.

"The statute states that the balustrade must be made of wood," explains the Greens representative.

That does not exclude solar panels as a balcony front.

"We have already had to allow frosted glazing," he reminded the municipal council.

A wooden border around the solar panels could structure the look.

That is nicer than many other things that can be seen in Schliersee.

The Greens can also imagine facade photovoltaics on functional buildings that are not very attractive anyway, for example in industrial areas.

Other countries would also allow this at mountain huts.

In the district of Miesbach, too, municipalities that place similar high demands on the townscape as Schliersee would approach the topic of balcony PV - for example the city of Tegernsee.

The Greens see the easing of the ban as an "important contribution to CO2 reduction".

Systems on the roofs would sometimes not supply any electricity at all for months in winter if the weather was right.

Experts should examine regulatory options

Ultimately, the City Council unanimously approved the Greens' motion.

It envisages finding out more about what can be prohibited or regulated and which legal instrument is best used to do this, i.e. the design statute or a development plan.

The information should be provided by experts from the Planning Association of the Outer Economic Area or the Bavarian Municipal Council.

If the assessment of the experts is available, the municipal council should deal with the topic again.

In the meantime, it remains unthinkable, as became clear in the discussion, that buildings that shape the townscape or are listed as historical monuments are fitted with photovoltaics on the balconies or walls.

The residents of Schlierseer also continue to take a critical view of open-space systems.