Balcony power plants
It’s that easy to get your own solar power in 2025
In the past, it was not easy, especially for tenants, to supply themselves with green electricity through balcony power plants. The new regulations make purchasing child’s play.
In 2024, Germany generated almost 60 percent of its electricity from renewable energies. And for the first time, balcony power plants played a significant part in this. In 2024 alone, 430,000 of these small photovoltaic systems were put into operation, and at the end of the year there were a total of 780,000 nationwide. Most work in North Rhine-Westphalia, followed by Bavaria and Lower Saxony. Bremen, Hamburg and Saarland come last. If the conditions are optimal, a balcony power plant with an output of 800 watts can generate around 550 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity annually. This corresponds to around a quarter of the needs of a two-person household.
Together, these plug-in solar devices, as they are officially called, provide an output of 700 million watts. Advantage for the overall system: The electricity usually does not reach the large power grid, which is already overloaded at times, but is consumed directly on site. Experts expect a continuing boom in 2025. The conditions for buyers will continue to improve as a result of the federal government’s solar packages. Here is the current state of affairs for those willing to invest:
There are good subsidies for balcony power plants
- Cheap entry: The state will not charge VAT on solar products until the end of 2025. This also includes solar batteries. This means you can save 19 percent of the purchase price.
- New funding opportunities: In 2025, many cities and municipalities will continue to pay a subsidy for a balcony solar system. The support extends up to 500 euros.
- Tenant rights strengthened: In the past, tenants had to ask the landlord for permission before purchasing a balcony power plant. Now there is a claim against which the landlord can only object in exceptional cases. The same applies to owners of condominiums in apartment buildings in relation to the homeowners’ association.
- More performance: The maximum output power of a balcony power plant can now be 800 instead of 600 watts. In order to achieve this optimally, the installed solar modules can even have a total output of up to 2000 watts. With a solar battery, the power harvest can be used optimally.
- Better installation option: Balcony power plants don’t have to hang on balconies, you can also use a garage roof or something similar. However, you should ensure ideal alignment with the sun.
Register with just a few mouse clicks
- Easier to register: Cumbersome bureaucracy has been abolished; you no longer have to register your power plant with the grid operator. All you need to do is register online in the market master data register.
- Schuko plug tolerated: In the past, you had to hire an electrician to connect the balcony power plant. Today it is also tolerated if the electricity is fed into the house network via a standard Schuko plug. However, this is still a gray area. But this year a new standard from the Association of Electrical, Electronic and Information Technology could finally bring clarity.
The old electricity meter is enough
- Meter replacement not a requirement: You don’t need a modern meter to operate a balcony power plant. The old one, which can run backwards when power flows back into the grid, is sufficient. However, the network operator will replace it after registration.
The good conditions will remain or even continue to improve, even if a new federal government is elected in February. At least that’s what experts assume. Because nothing is more efficient in the fight against global warming than self-generated and self-consumed green energy.
Source: Stern
