The Japan Times - Germans turn to balcony solar panels to save money

EUR -
AED 3.825399
AFN 79.153772
ALL 98.736666
AMD 415.287403
ANG 1.877402
AOA 952.448759
ARS 1090.834985
AUD 1.659602
AWG 1.877301
AZN 1.773879
BAM 1.950918
BBD 2.103246
BDT 127.032085
BGN 1.954353
BHD 0.392577
BIF 3035.968151
BMD 1.041499
BND 1.409579
BOB 7.197814
BRL 6.181396
BSD 1.041698
BTN 90.061042
BWP 14.407873
BYN 3.408985
BYR 20413.370758
BZD 2.092473
CAD 1.496639
CDF 2963.063339
CHF 0.944473
CLF 0.037424
CLP 1032.625104
CNY 7.574405
CNH 7.583047
COP 4438.460457
CRC 523.891405
CUC 1.041499
CUP 27.59971
CVE 110.714893
CZK 25.152813
DJF 185.095046
DKK 7.460863
DOP 63.958481
DZD 140.701185
EGP 52.405391
ERN 15.622478
ETB 131.280745
FJD 2.408725
FKP 0.857765
GBP 0.845695
GEL 2.967827
GGP 0.857765
GHS 15.832891
GIP 0.857765
GMD 76.029524
GNF 9015.210639
GTQ 8.051849
GYD 217.831709
HKD 8.1117
HNL 26.568478
HRK 7.685788
HTG 136.030219
HUF 410.555067
IDR 16929.766548
ILS 3.691409
IMP 0.857765
INR 90.040306
IQD 1364.363046
IRR 43847.087052
ISK 146.070191
JEP 0.857765
JMD 163.450942
JOD 0.738837
JPY 163.128346
KES 134.870181
KGS 91.079163
KHR 4198.280235
KMF 492.212582
KPW 937.348773
KRW 1496.049575
KWD 0.321084
KYD 0.868123
KZT 542.644563
LAK 22704.667648
LBP 93318.266805
LKR 311.072991
LRD 203.040547
LSL 19.26565
LTL 3.075274
LVL 0.629992
LYD 5.129371
MAD 10.43556
MDL 19.427287
MGA 4952.325547
MKD 61.527275
MMK 3382.746528
MNT 3539.012042
MOP 8.356147
MRU 41.503932
MUR 48.377901
MVR 16.044292
MWK 1806.999849
MXN 21.375127
MYR 4.620606
MZN 66.55058
NAD 19.267918
NGN 1621.613087
NIO 38.225035
NOK 11.745775
NPR 144.098067
NZD 1.838236
OMR 0.400889
PAB 1.041698
PEN 3.872817
PGK 4.142028
PHP 60.981759
PKR 290.213572
PLN 4.222409
PYG 8239.379829
QAR 3.791571
RON 4.974506
RSD 117.103005
RUB 103.370761
RWF 1447.682926
SAR 3.906769
SBD 8.819417
SCR 15.731842
SDG 625.940544
SEK 11.464035
SGD 1.411538
SHP 0.857765
SLE 23.694484
SLL 21839.702882
SOS 595.18962
SRD 36.53548
STD 21556.91634
SVC 9.115188
SYP 13541.563586
SZL 19.270615
THB 35.280778
TJS 11.400894
TMT 3.645245
TND 3.328112
TOP 2.439295
TRY 37.129316
TTD 7.076325
TWD 34.071066
TZS 2629.783534
UAH 43.751107
UGX 3833.424736
USD 1.041499
UYU 45.585915
UZS 13534.272674
VES 57.522481
VND 26131.197567
VUV 123.648794
WST 2.917057
XAF 654.32261
XAG 0.033809
XAU 0.000378
XCD 2.814702
XDR 0.802595
XOF 657.185531
XPF 119.331742
YER 259.333095
ZAR 19.256229
ZMK 9374.731321
ZMW 29.036635
ZWL 335.362095
  • RBGPF

    0.1600

    62.36

    +0.26%

  • RYCEF

    0.1700

    7.44

    +2.28%

  • CMSC

    -0.0600

    23.49

    -0.26%

  • BCC

    -0.4800

    128.64

    -0.37%

  • SCS

    -0.1600

    11.64

    -1.37%

  • RELX

    -0.2800

    49.27

    -0.57%

  • RIO

    -0.0750

    61.655

    -0.12%

  • GSK

    -0.2350

    33.545

    -0.7%

  • BTI

    -0.1700

    36.56

    -0.46%

  • JRI

    -0.0480

    12.522

    -0.38%

  • VOD

    -0.1250

    8.425

    -1.48%

  • BP

    -0.1170

    31.403

    -0.37%

  • CMSD

    -0.0540

    23.946

    -0.23%

  • BCE

    -0.1800

    23.21

    -0.78%

  • NGG

    -1.3950

    60.195

    -2.32%

  • AZN

    0.2150

    68.175

    +0.32%

Germans turn to balcony solar panels to save money
Germans turn to balcony solar panels to save money / Photo: Tobias SCHWARZ - AFP

Germans turn to balcony solar panels to save money

As snowflakes gently settled on his balcony solar panels on a cold winter's day, Berliner Jens Sax checked his smartphone to see how much electricity they were generating.

Text size:

The amount was modest now, said Sax, who admitted to being addicted to the phone notifications that keep track of the panels' output, "but we've saved 79 euros since installing them in August".

More than 800,000 such kits had been installed in Germany by the end of 2024, official data shows -- boosted by subsidies and a desire to save amid high energy costs.

That was more than double the number from a year earlier and 10 times the figure for 2022.

EmpowerSource, a consultancy, estimates that three million kits are now in operation nationwide, including those that have not been officially registered.

Installation numbers are likely an underestimate, said Leonhard Probst, a researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, since the kits often remain unregistered.

Cheaper than photovoltaic roof panels and easy to install -- the panels simply plug into power sockets -- balcony solar is taking off as Germany seeks to switch to renewables.

- Covid and war -

Europe's largest economy wants 80 percent of gross power consumption to come from renewables by 2030, up from 59 percent in 2024. Solar power supplied 14.6 percent of Germany's electricity last year.

Far less powerful than roof panels, balcony solar kits cover only part of a household's energy needs and are used for tasks such as charging computers or powering dishwashers.

Probst estimates that the kits make up only about two percent of the almost 100 gigawatts of Germany's total solar capacity, but he expects that share to grow and thinks the kits could boost solar more broadly.

"There's an educational effect, it familiarises a larger number of people with solar power and might spur them to invest in more powerful systems," he said.

Oliver Lang, based in Berlin and head of solar kit company Sonnenrepublik, said the firm had grown in recent years thanks totheCovid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

"At the beginning it was niche, there was very little demand when we started selling them six years ago," he said.

"It started duringCovidwhen people had time on their hands, then the war in Ukraine began and there was a fear of electricity shortages, and then subsidies came in."

- Government subsidies -

City authorities in Frankfurt gave Christoph Stadelmann, a 60-year-old teacher, half of the 650 euros ($676) he paid for his kit at the beginning of last year.

Stadelmann expects to make his money back within three years.

"Typical roof panels, a more powerful system, start from about 15,000 euros," said Lang of Sonnenrepublik.

"They'll take 15 years to pay off."

German energy prices have stabilised after a peak in 2022 but are still among the highest in Europe.

Opinion polls show that the cost of living is one of voters' major concerns ahead of parliamentary elections on February 23.

Cost savings were more important than environmental concerns in Sax's decision to plump for balcony solar panels, he said.

Government measures have supported the boom. Kit owners now no longer need to register the devices, and people who live in apartment buildings can use them without the owner's or building manager's permission.

Supportive regulation is the main reason for Germany's tilt towards balcony solar panels, with uptake far ahead of other European countries, said Christian Ofenheusle, founder of EmpowerSource.

Mirjam Sax, married to Jens, said she would recommend balcony solar panels in spite of Germany's sometimes grey weather.

"If you've got a balcony, if you've got a bit of sun, you can put up a panel or two to see if it's worth it," she said.

"It's easy and there's a price for every budget."

Y.Hara--JT