Energy transition
Popular solar power generation – already five million plants
Photovoltaics has long since become a technology for everyone. The five million mark has now been reached in the number of systems-and the booming balcony power plants are also heading for one round number.
Current generation from sunlight is booming in Germany: around 5,005,000 plants were registered with the Federal Network Agency in early April. The brand of over five million facilities in the company is now cracked.
This is a “milestone of the energy transition”, according to the Federal Association of Solar Economics (BSW solar). “No other form of electricity generation is so popular among the population,” says general manager Carsten Körnig.
Most performance is installed on homes
In the meantime, around 104 gigawatts of solar power have been installed. “Around 38 percent of them on roofs of homes, around 29 percent on company roofs, 32 percent on open spaces and almost one percent of balconies.” Around 17 gigawatts were added last year alone.
104 gigawatts corresponds to the capacity of 104 large coal -fired power plants, which, however, can produce electricity regardless of the time of day and the weather. “In the meantime, solar systems now cover almost 15 percent of the domestic electricity needs,” emphasized the association.
Association: Renewable Energies Act was “initial spark”
Körnig referred to the importance of the Renewable Energy Act, which came into force 25 years ago. It was the “initial spark on the spread of solar energy” and a “decisive market opener”. Within a generation, an expensive satellite technology has become the cheapest form of electricity generation on earth. “From underage power customers, millions of prosumers became a millions of solar prosumers who are increasingly taking their energy generation into their own hands.” In this case, consumers who are producers are referred to as prosumers.
How to distribute systems and performance
According to the market master data register, most of the 5 million plants are eliminated on so -called structural systems on roofs, facades, buildings and the like. A good 4.1 million of them are in operation. Together they come to a gross performance of a good 71 gigawatts. According to the number of systems, the balcony power plants are in second place with 870,000. Small as they are, they only get 0.8 gigawatts.
It is exactly the other way around with open space systems. Only 19,000 of them are registered, but their performance is large with 31.5 gigawatts. In addition – as of Thursday – there are still 95 plants in large parking spaces and 27 on water. Together they contribute 0.06 gigawatts.
Fast expansion – also thanks to the balcony power plants
The increase in the new facilities was recently steep, 1.25 million plants have been added since the beginning of 2024. The still young boom of small and cheap balcony power plants also helped, of which more than half a million went into operation during this period. They would often be used by tenants and apartment owners, while homeowners mostly chose larger roof systems.
In total, the market master data register has around 870,000 balcony power plants in operation. Around 81,000 have been registered in the first quarter – although the season for the devices, which are also called plug -in solar devices, only begins in spring. A “very positive” development, says Körnig, but in his assessment, the numbers are likely to be a good deal below the actual values. On the one hand, despite the obligation, not all systems are registered. On the other hand, there is a period of one month for registration. So late registrations for the first quarter can still be expected. A year ago, around 10,000 plants were added.
On the way to the million – and beyond
Overall, the balcony power plants are still on the upper. Even without the expected late registrations, one third more was registered in the first quarter than in the same period last year. With them it could go towards 50 percent. And if the paragraph attracts typical of the season in the second quarter – 166,000 plants were added in 2024 – the limit of one million registered facilities in operation should be reached.
The million “in summer” also expects Körnig. He attributes the boom to the low costs and simple installation. The legal improvements in recent years have also helped. An end is not yet in sight. There are around 30 million apartments in two or apartment buildings in Germany. “Even if not all of these residential units are suitable for attaching a plug -in solar device, we continue to assume great potential.”
dpa
Source: Stern
