Source: Energy & Management Powernews, April 06, 2022
The German Solar Industry Association is registering a significant increase in consumer interest in purchasing their own solar systems for power and heat generation and solar storage.
More and more consumers want to use solar technology to save energy costs and become more independent of energy imports. According to the German Solar Industry Association (BSW), more than 2.5 million households in Germany already use solar collectors as an efficiency booster for space and water heating, and around 2 million households use photovoltaic (PV) modules to generate electricity. The association attributes this to skyrocketing energy prices and the growing desire of many citizens to become more independent of Russian energy imports as a result of the Ukraine war.
Many gas and oil heating systems will be replaced in the coming years for reasons of age. For climate and geopolitical reasons, the new systems should be based entirely on renewable energy. Solar technology in combination with other renewable energies is considered according to BSW in the eyes of energy experts for many buildings thereby as the best choice.
Solar systems also effective as auxiliary heating
However, millions of gas heating systems were only newly installed in recent years. For many property owners, therefore, a complete replacement of the heating system is out of the question for the time being. "These heaters now need at least a solar efficiency booster," advises Carsten Körnig, BSW general manager. Existing gas and oil heating systems could easily be retrofitted with solar heat collectors. Depending upon condition of the building thereby the expenditures for gas or oil could sink immediately around 25 to 50%.
In the case of a later conversion of the heating for example on bio energy or environmental heat the solar collectors could be further operated problem-free. They would then save costs for the purchase of pellets or heat pump electricity, Körnig explained. The acquisition and installation of a new solar heating system is subsidized by the Federal Office for Economic Affairs with up to 45% of the costs, the solar thermal retrofit of existing gas heating systems with 30%.
According to the BSW, the majority of German home roofs are technically suitable and large enough to support both solar systems for heat generation (solar thermal) and electricity generation (photovoltaic).
Further information on solar thermal energy and subsidies is available on the Internet.
Author: Susanne Harmsen
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