The first law she would introduce as Chancellor would be an “immediate climate protection programme”, said Green Party leader Annalena Baerbock. She would also enforce a solar system obligation for new buildings, she announced: “In the future, it must apply in Germany that usually only with solar roof is built new.”
A solar roof obligation would be a tough intervention in German construction law – and in the purse of the house builders. What are Baerbock and the Greens aiming at with a solar roof obligation? Does this make sense for climate protection? And what does the future owner of a home cost?
Solar systems on roofs: 25,000 square kilometres of space
In order to achieve the goals of the EU and the Paris Climate Protection Agreement, Germany will also need significantly more electricity from renewable energy sources in the coming years and decades. According to the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, the Germans covered around 46 percent of their electricity demand with renewable energies in 2020. However, heat and fuel will also be generated from wind and solar energy in the future. And the new climate protection law of the grand coalition provides for a 100 percent supply of renewable energies by 2045. AEE
A long way to the energy transition: Climate protection has stagnated in recent years, especially with regard to heat and fuel.
Germany still has to increase significantly in the expansion of wind and solar energy. Unlike wind energy, however, solar energy does not have to increase land consumption, because Germany’s roofs alone offer more than 25,000 square kilometers of space for solar systems, calculated Siemens and the Technical University of Munich. From prefabricated buildings to DIY stores to terraced houses: The output of solar power production could be more than tripled from around 50 gigawatts to more than 160.
“Will promote solar roofs and make them standard”
In order to make greater use of the solar potential of house roofs, Baerbock and the Greens are now proposing to equip the roofs of new buildings with solar panels: “Our goal is one million new solar roofs in the next four years. That is why we will promote solar roofs and make them standard,” says the green election programme: “Starting with new buildings, public and commercial buildings as well as roof renovations, we want to extend this standard to the existing buildings in the future.”
- This would require an amendment to last year’s new Building Energy Act, which already regulates energy-efficient measures for new buildings.
- Unlike the old Energy Saving Ordinance (EnEV), the Building Energy Act (GEG) does not require approval in the Federal Council. The Bundestag can therefore change the GEG on its own.
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In the past, the Greens also called for:
- the mandatory use of renewable energies if fossil heating is replaced anyway,
- to remove state subsidies for oil and gas heating and
- instead to develop support for solar thermal energy and heat pumps.
State subsidies and discounted loans are already available for this purpose – for example at the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) or the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (Bafa).
After about seven years, investment would have paid off
A solar system on the roof is an investment. It initially costs money, but after some time it makes a profit. Either you use the generated electricity yourself or you sell it to the local power grid operator, who must take it by law. An example:
- If you screw a solar system with a nominal power of about four kilowatts onto the roof, you currently have to turn over about 6400 euros – including installation and commissioning. That’s about ten solar panels with an area of 1.7 square meters each.
- The online solar computers of the dealers or electricity providers assume that this generates about 3600 kilowatt hours of electricity per year and thus saves a little over 1000 euros in electricity costs every year. The cost-benefit calculation only varies imperceptibly if you move the roof of the house from Munich to Berlin.
- After about seven years, the investment would have paid for itself.
- Electricity suppliers and dealers also offer rental or lease models. yello
Example calculation for a house roof in Munich: The owner has leased the solar system from her electricity supplier and wants to consume the solar power mainly herself. The three-person household requires 3500 kWh of electricity per year. A separate power storage or an electric car could further increase the profitability of the solar system.
In some federal states, the solar roof obligation already applies
Many federal states have already pushed ahead and have adapted the solar roof obligation accordingly in their building regulations. Some examples:
Baden-Württemberg: The green-black coalition agreed on a compromise in May 2020: From 2022, all new non-residential buildings in the state must be equipped with solar systems. The solar obligation should initially apply to new commercial buildings and public buildings. (Advertisement) Deutsche Bahn – holidays and travel without a car
Bavaria: Also Prime Minister Markus Söder calls for a duty for solar systems on all new buildings. Photovoltaic systems are still to be installed in new commercial properties in 2021-from 2022, private residential buildings will be added. The corresponding law is currently in departmental coordination.
Bremen: In June 2020, the citizens of Bremen decided to make Bremen and Bremerhaven “Solar Cities”. By 2030, solar systems will be installed on all roofs-this will become mandatory for new buildings and later for major roof renovations, including in residential areas.
Hamburg: On 22 December 2020, the Senate decided on the concrete implementation of the solar roof obligation for all buildings with the first ordinance to the Hamburg Climate Protection Act. The regulations include an obligation to install photovoltaic systems from 2023 on all roofs in the new building. For existing buildings where the roof is renewed, the obligation will apply from 2025.
Read on the topic: #BTW21: Analysis climate protection and industry – After Merkel’s climate bankruptcy: Instead of Fridays, we should look at 6 real game-changers
Conclusion:
With the existing funding programs and KfW loans, the solar system on the roof would already be a worthwhile investment with cheap financing for home builders and homeowners. If the solar roof obligation actually came by federal law, it would be flanked by further funding instruments. The Länder also already offer corresponding funding pots.
From the energy transition and the solar roof obligation benefit once again the better earners, who can also afford to build a house. Tenants, on the other hand, are currently only faced with rising electricity costs in the energy transition.
Candidates for the Bundestag election on 26 September 2021 Annalena Baerbock: Husband, children and plagiarism Armin Laschet: Career, wife Susanne and assets Olaf Scholz: income, wife and financial problems Christian Lindner: Ex-wife, girlfriend, assets Janine Wissler-die Linke: husband, child, career Alice Weidel: Wife, children, scandals Use Wahl-O – Mat for elections 2021-click here
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