Every house in the southwest is to become a small solar power plant. The Greens are pushing for a solar obligation for older houses as well. But the coalition partner is stirring resistance.
Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann encounters granite with his demand for a solar obligation for older buildings as well at the coalition partner CDU. Construction Minister Nicole Razavi (CDU) told the German Press Agency in Stuttgart that she was a big fan of photovoltaic systems in the building sector. “But before we discuss the introduction of further obligations, we should remove the hurdles that stand in the way of expanding photovoltaics.”
For example, the federal government must release the brakes on tenant electricity – this involves electricity that is generated on a residential building and consumed there directly. “And we should set smart incentives,” said the CDU politician. “We have to make photovoltaic systems so attractive that the question of an obligation no longer arises.” If such a system is “feasible and affordable and also pays off within a few years, then everyone will do it”.
Almost two weeks ago, at the Green Party Congress, Kretschmann had pushed for a solar obligation for older buildings as well. He hopes that the green-black coalition will be ready next year to decide on the general obligation, said the green head of government. He knows that this won’t happen overnight – also because the energy and inflation crisis is putting a heavy financial burden on many households. But by 2035 this is feasible and reasonable.
The environmental and energy politician of the CDU parliamentary group, Raimund Haser, also thinks Kretschmann’s initiative is the wrong way. Haser told the dpa: “We have now opened the climate protection law for the second time in two years. I can’t imagine that we will do it again in 2023 under the same conditions.” Instead of thinking about new duties of the citizens, one should rather stick to the duties of the state. “Promote line construction, end the madness about approvals, create storage options and not symbolically discuss obligations that should apply on the day of never-ending – i.e. 2035.”
During the most recent negotiations on the Climate Protection Act, the solar obligation for older buildings was excluded under pressure from the CDU. The following already applies: Anyone who wants to build a new house in the southwest has had to have a solar system installed on their roof since the beginning of May. In addition, from 2023 homeowners will also have to have a photovoltaic system installed during a thorough roof renovation. A solar obligation for older buildings is also not in the coalition agreement between the Greens and the CDU.
Haser referred to many bureaucratic problems with the systems. First of all, these are complicated to register and put into operation. Then there is a “billing hiccup between own use and external delivery”. The CDU energy expert criticized: “Instead of changing the system in such a way that the roofs fill up on their own, the green Ministry of Economic Affairs in the federal government leaves everything as it is and relies on the obligation in this country. That is not my idea of ??sensible regulatory policy. “
The CDU politician also explained that photovoltaics is currently experiencing an “amazing boom. In the coming years, the megawatt outputs will increase so much that the grid will reach its limits anyway.” Haser also criticized Kretschmann’s statement that the annual output of five nuclear power plants could be replaced with solar systems on all suitable roofs in the south-west. “The statement that 60 terawatt hours of photovoltaics correspond to 60 terawatt hours of nuclear power is wrong as long as storage over night and even more so over the winter is not possible on an industrial scale.”
Haser gave the following example: “On Christmas Eve, when the lights are on, all German photovoltaic systems together feed exactly 0 kilowatt hours of electricity into the grid, and the electricity-based heat pumps are then powered by coal and nuclear power.” If you talk about technical details, then that’s also part of it. “Photovoltaics is a building block of the energy transition. But as we all know, you don’t build a house with just one building block.”
