Nationwide solar obligation in Germany?

Introduction of a solar/photovoltaic requirement for new buildings:

• Berlin (solar mandatory start: 2023)
• Hamburg (solar mandatory start: 2023)
• Bremen (solar obligation start not yet known)
• Baden-Württemberg (solar compulsory start: 2022)
• Lower Saxony (Solar Compulsory Bill)
• Rhineland-Palatinate (Solar Compulsory Bill)
• Schleswig-Holstein (Solar Compulsory Bill)

Introduction of a solar carport requirement / requirement of a solar parking space roof for new open parking spaces of a certain size:

• Baden-Württemberg (solar carport requirement begins: 2022)
• North Rhine-Westphalia (solar carport requirement begins: 2022)
• Rhineland-Palatinate (solar carport requirement bill)
• Schleswig-Holstein (solar carport requirement bill)

More on this:

• Solar compulsory & solar carport compulsory in Germany for new buildings and new open parking spaces of a certain size

Everything from a single source, specially designed for solar solutions for large parking areas. You refinance or counterfinance into the future with your own electricity generation.

Advice and solutions can be found here 👈🏻

Advice and planning including a non-binding cost estimate. We bring you together with strong photovoltaic partners.

Advice and solutions can be found here 👈🏻

We are positioned across regions in German-speaking countries. We have reliable partners who advise you and implement your wishes.

Get in touch with us 👈🏻

According to several media reports, the President of the Federal Environment Agency, Dirk Messner, has spoken out in favor of a solar requirement. “It is a good idea and, according to a report, also possible for us,” Dirk Messner is quoted as saying. If Europe raises its climate protection goals, Germany must follow suit for its 2030 goals. He cited the solar requirement in Baden-Württemberg from 2022 as an example and a good idea. This refers to new commercial and public buildings.

Dirk Messner has been President of the Federal Environment Agency since January 2020. From 2004 to 2019 he was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Federal Government on Global Environmental Change (WBGU), from 2009 as deputy chairman and from 2013 as co-chairman.

The German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) is the central environmental authority of the Federal Republic of Germany. Together with the Federal Office for Nature Conservation, the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management and the Federal Office for Radiation Protection, it is part of the portfolio of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. The office's tasks are primarily "to provide scientific support to the federal government (including the federal ministries for the environment, health, education and research, transport and digital infrastructure), the enforcement of environmental laws (e.g. emissions trading, approval of chemicals, pharmaceuticals and plant protection products ) and informing the public about environmental protection” based on independent research. With around 1,600 employees, the German Federal Environment Agency is the largest environmental authority in Europe.

According to the Basic Law, responsibilities are distributed between the federal and state governments. In some areas, environmental protection is a federal matter and in other areas it only has the power of framework legislation for the states. Therefore, some environmental protection tasks are carried out by the state offices in the federal states responsible for the environment, while other tasks are carried out by the Federal Environment Agency.

The aim of the report was to examine and evaluate various design options for a solar obligation (PV obligation). Solar systems (PV systems) are often not built even though they would be economical. In other cases, smaller PV systems are installed even though more space would be available on the roof. A PV requirement could help to tap the great potential available and make the use of roof areas for the generation of solar power a matter of course.

In the proposed variant, the obligated owners can decide to install a PV system and operate it themselves, or to enter their roof area in a leasing register so that the area can be leased from third parties for the operation of a PV system. The economic viability of the area would be demonstrated by the fact that a PV system is installed and put into operation - either by the owner or by a third party: a usage or cadastral obligation is therefore proposed.

The leasing register would create transparency between supply and demand and help to mediate between the different parties involved. The economic profit that those obliged to achieve by operating a PV system or by leasing building space increases the acceptance of this measure among the population.

More about it here:

Photovoltaic obligation with leasing register – Federal Environment Agency PDF Download

Authors: Sebastian Palacios, Dierk Bauknecht, David Ritter, Markus Kahles, Nils Wegner, Carsten von Gneisenau

In its press release from November 23rd, 2020, the 'Öko-Institut e. V. – Institute for Applied Ecology' as follows:

A nationwide obligation to install and operate photovoltaic systems (PV systems) on the roofs of new buildings and after roof renovations should be designed as a usage or cadastral obligation. Owners should be able to decide: either they install and operate a PV system themselves or they enter their roof area in a cadastre, which can then be leased to third parties for the operation of a PV system.

Such a design ensures the cost-effectiveness of the systems and can increase acceptance among the population. The obligation would enable more roofs than before to be used to generate solar power. By the end of 2017, only around twelve percent of the available roof space had been developed.

Scientific opinion

The recommendations are based on a joint report by scientists from the Oeko-Institut and the Environmental Energy Law Foundation for the Federal Environment Agency. The aim was to examine and evaluate various design options for a nationwide photovoltaic requirement (PV requirement). Economic and legal aspects were comprehensively included. Potential conflicts with other obligations, for example under the Building Energy Act for the use of solar thermal systems, were taken into account, as were the concepts of existing and planned solar obligations in the federal states - for example in Baden-Württemberg and Hamburg.

Economically reasonable, little bureaucracy

“The PV requirement should only apply if it is economically reasonable for the building owners,” says Sebastian Palacios from the Oeko-Institut.
In order to achieve this, the authors of the study propose a usage or cadastral obligation. “This type of obligation makes time- and personnel-intensive performance audits unnecessary,” says Dr. Nils Wegner from the Environmental Energy Law Foundation. Combining the PV obligation with a leasing register can ensure that PV systems are only built on profitable roof areas. Whether an area is economically suitable becomes clear as soon as either the owners or third parties install and operate a system via the cadastre.

Acceptance among the population

The leasing register is intended to create transparency between supply and demand and help to communicate the different parties involved. “The economic profit that those obliged to achieve by operating a PV system or by leasing building space increases the acceptance of this measure among the population,” says Sebastian Palacios from the Oeko-Institut. In any case, PV systems on roofs have fewer acceptance problems and rarely come into conflict with nature conservation - unlike, for example, wind energy on land.

EEG funding and loans for larger systems

Another question that the researchers examined is possible financial support for construction and operation. Because if a larger system is built on the entire roof, it is more conducive to the energy transition than a smaller system that, although optimized for its own consumption and costs, only uses a small part of the roof area. “According to our review, the electricity generated by the photovoltaic systems could continue to be subsidized under the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) even with a PV requirement,” says Dr. Nils Wegner from the Environmental Energy Law Foundation. “Promotional loans, for example from KfW, could also be combined with EEG funding for private homeowners.”

Obligation as an incentive instrument

On the one hand, the instrument can be designed as an obligation. On the other hand, there are still a number of leeway: In addition to the cadastre, it is suggested that non-fulfillment should initially not be excessively sanctioned. This keeps the enforcement effort low and makes it possible to check what effect the instrument can have in a softer form. The study also shows how the instrument could be tightened, for example by a maximum number of offer rejections.