How Germany outfitted half a million balconies with solar panels

Despite the hype, most users concede that balcony solar provides modest cost and energy savings. Weyland spent around $530 for his 600-watt-capacity system. While he’s happy with how his south-facing panels perform during balmy weather, such days are rare in northern Germany. He estimates that he’ll save around $100 in annual electricity costs and recoup his investment in about five years.

That’s fairly typical, although advocates of the technology say a system’s efficacy — and, therefore, payback timeline — varies widely depending upon the number of panels, their location and direction, and how much shade surrounds them. A household with a ​“comparatively large well-positioned balcony system in a sunny spot facing south” can produce 15 percent of its electricity with balcony solar, according to Peter Stratmann, head of renewables at German Federal Network Agency, the country’s utility regulator.

While that can put a dent in a household’s utility bill, its impact on Germany’s consumption is far smaller. ​“Even if we attached panels to all suitable balconies across the country, we’d still only manage to meet 1 percent or less of our overall energy needs,” Stratmann told Deutsche Welle.

So if balcony solar doesn’t generate a lot of power or save a lot of money, why are so many people flocking to it? Many of them like the idea of producing energy at home and gaining a bit of independence from the grid. It also provides a tangible way to take climate action. ​“It makes the energy transition feel a little more concrete and not so abstract,” said Helena Holenweger of the nonprofit Deutsche Umwelthilfe, or Environmental Action Germany. She installed a balcony solar system on top of her garage about a year ago. ​“You can literally do something about it.”

Holenweger and others who have tapped the sun said balcony solar led them to reevaluate their understanding of electricity consumption and take steps to reduce it. ​“For lots of people, energy is just something that comes out of your socket,” Holenweger said. ​“You never think about how it gets there or how it works.” The systems don’t include battery storage, so the juice they generate must be used immediately, leading people to plan the best time to, say, run the washing machine to ensure they’re using renewable energy. In that way, it becomes something of a game. Many balcony solar kits feature an app to track daily energy generation, providing what has, for many people, become a scorecard. ​“They screenshot that, they send it around to their Facebook groups, family WhatsApp groups. They’re super proud,” Gründinger said.

Germany is unique in its rabid embrace of the tech. Although increasingly popular in Austria, the Netherlands, France, and elsewhere in Europe, plug-in solar devices aren’t viable in the United States due to costly permitting requirements and other local regulations. Beyond that, most systems are designed to European electrical standards, making them incompatible with U.S. power systems.

But even in Germany, balcony solar still faces hurdles, including fierce resistance from landlords worried about electrical fires or put off by the aesthetics of the panels. Last year, Weyland sued his building’s property management company for imposing what he deemed unreasonable requirements to install a system, including a formal inspection of the building’s electrical system. A court sided with him in October 2023, but similar cases pop up regularly.

Weyland hopes that as more people adopt balcony solar, that will soon change. Already, people in his life regularly ask him about his panels, and two friends are buying systems of their own.

“So many people talk to me in our neighborhood and ask about the system when they see it,” Weyland said. ​“It’s kind of like a snowball that gets bigger and bigger.”