Germany Simplifies Rules For Balcony Solar Power Plants

• Germany's Bundesnetzagentur has revised the registrations rules for balcony solar systems 
• It requires less information to be filled in to enter these plug-and-play systems in the MaStR 
• The aim is to bring down the bureaucracy associated with their registration to boost adoption, it adds 

The Federal Network Agency or Bundesnetzagentur of Germany has released new rules for the registration of plug-and-play balcony solar PV systems in the country in a bid to reduce bureaucracy to accelerate their adoption. 

Under the new rules, operators will be required to enter 5 pieces of information about their project in addition to their personal information. Previously, they needed to submit 20 pieces of information, according to the agency. These will be entered into the market master data register (MaStR). 

The simplified rules for balcony power plant registrations have come into force from April 1, 2024. 

"People should be able to participate in the energy transition as easily as possible," said Bundesnetzagentur President Klaus Müller. "Balcony power plants can now be registered quickly and unbureaucratically." 

Balcony solar systems are on the rise in Germany. In 2023, out of the 1.6 million new electricity generation systems launched, the share of balcony systems was 300,000. The agency believes its simplification of rules will further boost its adoption, ensuring all systems become an effective part of the energy transition. 

The simplification efforts will continue in the future as well, shares the agency, while pointing to the Solar Package I being discussed by the German Parliament Bundestag. It hopes to bring down the amount of data required for MaStR for balcony solar projects, including the orientation of the system (see German Federal Government Approves Solar Package). 

"The legislative package also stipulates that balcony power plants no longer have to be reported to the network operator. Registration in the MaStR will then be sufficient. The Federal Network Agency automatically informs the responsible network operator about the balcony power plant that has been newly connected to its network," adds the agency.  

Balcony PV, along with other advanced solar module applications such as BIPV, floating solar were discussed at length during TaiyangNews Virtual Conference on Advanced Module Applications on September 26, 2023 (see TaiyangNews Event Discusses Status, Challenges & Potential Of Non-Traditional Solar Applications).