© dpa
Berlin wants to make it easier to generate solar energy on your own balcony and expand subsidies.
This was announced by the economic administration on Friday. In future, subsidies of up to 500 euros will also be available for plug-in solar devices with an output of up to 800 watts. Previously, the limit was 600 watts. One bureaucratic step has been eliminated: registration with Stromnetz Berlin is no longer necessary. The subsidy guideline has also been adapted so that owners of small or recreational gardens as well as tenants can receive the subsidy per plug-in solar device.
However, the subsidy application must always be submitted before purchasing the device, which is also known as a balcony power station. If the system costs up to 500 euros, 100 per cent is subsidised; if it is more expensive, the buyer must pay the difference themselves. The background to the changes is the Solar Package I recently adopted by the German government. According to the economic administration, the corresponding improvements for consumers will be adapted in the funding guidelines of the Berlin Solarplus funding programme on 31 May. According to the Senate, Berlin should become climate-neutral well before 2045. The expansion of solar energy production on roofs and balconies is seen as a building block for achieving this goal.
"We are simplifying the energy transition for the home," said Senator for Economic Affairs Franziska Giffey (SPD). "We have enormous solar energy potential in Berlin: on balconies, on roofs, in gardens. We need to utilise this in order to achieve our goal of 25 per cent solar power in Berlin's energy generation by 2035." According to the economic administration, 7718 grants for plug-in solar devices had been approved by the end of April. The funding pot contains a total of seven million euros - enough to subsidise 14,000 balcony power plants.