The European country that has installed over 400,000 ‘solar balconies’ on people’s terraces

More than 400,000 solar systems have been installed in Germany, most of them on people’s balconies. At least 50,000 photovoltaic devices have been installed in the first quarter of 2024 alone, Euronews reports. This boom was born from Germany’s “very strong solar culture”, according to an expert.

“Solar balconies” are part of the energy transition efforts across Europe, commented Jan Osenberg, political advisor at the association SolarPower Europe, to Euronews.

How do they work?

The main thing that characterizes them and distinguishes them from solar energy from rooftop panels is that they are a much smaller system. Essentially, the technology consists of one or two panels plugged into an electrical outlet.

They produce only about 10 percent of the energy of residential roof systems.

According to his calculations, Germany has about 200 MW of installed capacity from this solar power on balconies, compared with 16 GW of capacity from the residential rooftop sector.

From the customer’s point of view, the main difference is that the balcony is much easier to install. Kits are even bought online and “you don’t need an electrician to set it up”. Unlike roof installations where certified professionals are recommended to avoid fire risks and structural damage.

So the panels are placed on a mounting structure and attached via cables to an inverter and the electricity comes into your outlet via a regular plug.

Germany was one of the first countries to invest in solar technology and now produces the most solar electricity in Europe. But the apartment blocks were late to the transition.

The expert attributes this to the challenges of getting all building owners to agree to rooftop solar, such as the difficulty of sharing electricity between different apartments.

With balcony solar, however, “suddenly it becomes very, very simple,” he says. All those people who couldn’t get solar for the last 10 years now have a way to access it.

This “wave” of new solar owners isn’t just taking advantage of cheap electricity, Osenberg says.

How Germany Helped People Get Solar Energy From Balconies?

The government encouraged people to opt in with feed-in tariffs, for example by giving a fixed price for each unit of electricity sent to the grid. Subsidies are also available at a regional level, with Berlin offering up to €500 (potentially half the cost of a kit). The technology pays for itself in about three years. So with a lifespan of around 20 years, “it’s an affordable and easy investment for citizens”.

North Rhine-Westphalia currently has the most solar systems with over 80,000 units, followed by Bavaria with over 60,000 and Lower Saxony with over 50,000.

How are things in other countries and why do they “leak” such solar energy?

Member states can help adopt rooftop solar, according to the EU, but a key factor is likely to be that it is not mandatory and not accepted by all countries.

Belgium, for example, banned plug-in solar devices due to concerns about the impact of having unregistered systems feeding the electricity grid.

Austria, France, Italy, Poland and Luxembourg have taken an encouraging stance towards this kind of solar energy.