Solar balconies are booming in Germany. Here’s what you need to know about the popular home tech
This new wave of solar producers aren’t just getting cheap electricity, they’re also participating in the energy transition.
More than 500,000 plug-in solar systems have been installed in Germany, most of them taking up a seamless spot on people’s balconies.
New data shows another 220,000 PV devices were installed in the first half of 2024. A boom born from Germany’s “very strong solar culture”, in the words of one expert.
Solar balconies are a piece of the wider energy transition across Europe, explains Jan Osenberg, a policy advisor at the SolarPower Europe association.
“We see them as a subset of rooftop solar, but also as something different,” he tells Euronews Green. “We basically see it as a trend to use all possible artificial infrastructure for solar generation.”
Train tracks, motorways, carparks, car roofs, cemeteries and building facades… the list of structures getting a solar makeover goes on and on.
So why are other European countries slow on the balustrade uptake? And what do you need to know if you’re eyeing up a panel or two for your balcony?
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Solar balconies in brief: How they workThe main thing that differentiates solar balconies from rooftop solar is that they’re a much smaller system. Essentially, the tech consists of one or two panels plugged into an electricity socket.
They only produce around 10 per cent of the energy of residential rooftop systems, Osenberg says.
As a rough calculation, he estimates Germany has around 200 MW of installed balcony solar; compared to 16 GW capacity from the residential roof sector.
From a customer point of view, the main difference is that balcony PV is much easier to install. You can buy the kit online, and don’t need an electrician to set it up. Unlike for rooftop installations, where certified installers are recommended to avoid fire risks and damage to the structure.
In short: the panels are put on a mounting structure and attached via cables to an inverter that converts the electricity from DC to AC, which goes into your socket via a regular plug.
Who are solar balconies for?“The main reason for the success of balcony solar systems is that it gives people the chance to use solar who weren’t able to use it before,” says a spokesperson for German manufacturer Meyer Burger.
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