Balcony solar boom in Germany: Their number has doubled this year

Germany is experiencing a boom in so-called balcony solar power systems. Their number has doubled since the beginning of this year, largely thanks to simpler registration procedures.

So-called balcony solar power systems are popular in Germany. These systems, consisting of just a few photovoltaic panels and a small inverter with a maximum total installed capacity of 800 Wp, are plugged into a standard socket. Their easy installation and the possibility of mounting them on a balcony or the facade of a building are helping fuel their growth.

The number of these solar systems connected to the grid had risen to 700,000 by October 2, according to data from Germany’s network regulator (BNetzA), doubling since the beginning of 2024. The total installed capacity of balcony photovoltaic systems in Germany has thus reached 600 MW. Just under 140,000 new systems were registered in the third quarter of this year. The actual number is probably even higher, as systems can be registered retroactively within one month and some are not reported at all despite the registration requirement.

Balcony solar systems still account for only a tiny fraction of Germany’s total installed solar power capacity, which reached 83 GW at the end of 2023.

Falling prices and less red tape

Germany simplified the bureaucratic procedures for registering new balcony power systems in April. Combined with a further decline in the price of solar technology, this is likely to extend the positive trend in balcony solar installations, said Carsten Körnig, managing director of the German Solar Industry Association (BSW Solar).

"In future, tenants will be entitled to their landlord’s or homeowners’ association’s approval to install and use a technically safe plug-in solar system," he added, referring to rules approved by the German Bundestag last week that are intended to improve tenants’ and apartment owners’ rights to install their own balcony solar systems.

Germany aims to reach an 80% share of renewable energy in gross final electricity consumption by 2030. In the first half of this year, renewables supplied 57% of the country’s gross final electricity consumption. By April, 3.4 million solar power systems had been installed in Germany, a 30% increase on the previous year.