Mini solar systems for the balcony are trendy. However, a new law is intended to make the purchase even easier for tenants and guarantee them the right to a balcony power plant. In the future, landlords will no longer be allowed to ban the devices without reason.
Balcony power plants are becoming increasingly popular in Germany. According to the, in the second quarter of 2024 Market master data register The Federal Network Agency connected over 152,000 new devices to the network. This corresponds to an increase of 52 percent compared to the second quarter of 2023, when a record was already recorded.
Right to balcony power plant: Landlords are not allowed to refuse operation without reason
According to the Federal Association for the Solar IndustryA total of over 550,000 balcony power plants have been registered with the Federal Network Agency in Germany. However, the actual number is likely to be higher because there is a late registration period of several weeks and some systems are not registered.
In order to make it even easier for tenants to purchase a so-called plug-in solar device, the Bundestag has one on Thursday, July 4, 2024 Draft law passed, which provides for changes to tenancy law and property ownership law.
In order to operate a balcony power plant, tenants previously had to obtain express consent from their landlord. Apartment owners, in turn, needed approval from the homeowners’ association. Until now, landlords and homeowners’ associations could refuse to operate a balcony power plant for no reason.
Privileging of plug-in solar devices
Electricity generation through balcony power plants should be included in the catalog of so-called privileged measures. These are structural changes that may not be blocked by landlords and homeowners’ associations (WEG) for no reason.
You should still have a say and be able to decide, for example, how a balcony power plant is attached to the house. However, they should not fundamentally prohibit the installation of plug-in solar devices.
Carsten Körnig, general manager of the Federal Solar Industry Association, welcomes the legal changes as “a welcome booster for the solarization of balconies”. The “right to harvest solar power” would ensure increasing demand. The Federal Council still has to approve the law, but that seems to be just a formality.
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The article By law: Tenants have the right to a balcony power plant – that’s now changing by Fabian Peters first appeared on BASIC thinking. Follow us too Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.