Potsdam’s first balcony power plant on a Pro Potsdam house is connected to the grid: Two weeks ago, a private individual in Potsdam-West had a private solar system installed on his balcony. The municipal housing company informed about this on Tuesday. “Four more balcony power plants are currently being built,” said Pro-Potsdam Managing Director Jörn-Michael Westphal.
Potsdam’s first balcony power plant owner in a Pro Potsdam house would like to remain anonymous, but soon the sight of solar panels on Pro Potsdam balconies could be a normal sight: the housing company developed an official procedure and a standard contract last year, with which now also all other tenants of Pro Potsdam can apply for a balcony power plant.
bureaucratic process
There are a number of conditions: No systems may be connected to existing buildings that have not been renovated, so that they do not have to be dismantled again in the course of future renovation. According to Westphal, however, only 15 percent of the Pro Potsdam inventory is unrenovated. And: “Of course, there must be no restrictions due to monument protection,” said Gregor Heilmann, Managing Director of Gewoba, the real estate management of Pro Potsdam.
If these requirements are met and Pro Potsdam has given their OK, those interested have to do a lot of paperwork: The privately commissioned electrical contractor that installs the system must submit a specialist contractor declaration, a copy of the installer ID and a test report.
Next, two registration certificates must be obtained, one from the market master data register of the Federal Network Agency and one from the responsible network operator. And finally, the tenants must provide information about the type of balcony system and proof of their liability insurance.
When all this is done and the balcony power plant has been erected, the whole thing still has to be confirmed in writing on site – then the plant can go into operation.
Schuko plug is not enough
The price for a balcony power station is between 350 and 700 euros, plus the costs for installation, checking the load capacity of the balcony and checking the circuit. Pro Potsdam estimates these costs at around 200 euros.
In addition, the circuit breaker had to be converted and the balcony socket replaced with a special feed socket. The latter may soon no longer be necessary: Although the Association for Electrical, Electronic and Information Technologies (VDE) still recommends a power socket for balcony systems, according to the Berlin University of Applied Sciences (HTW), 77 percent of all plug-in solar devices in Germany are connected to a standard household one Schuko socket connected.
Klaus Müller, President of the Federal Network Agency, therefore recently spoke out in favor of including Schuko sockets for balcony power plants in the VDE standard: “According to the Federal Network Agency’s assessment, a simple plug is sufficient for balcony solar modules if certified inverters are available,” says miller.
There is movement at the VDE: The association recently published a position paper, according to which the standards should be changed accordingly. “We hope that this will speed up the process, but so far the standards have not been changed,” says Gregor Heilmann. Until then, the regulation to use feeder plugs will continue to apply at Pro Potsdam.
Another hurdle is the electricity meter: If the model is too old, it must be replaced with a bidirectional meter. “That has to be clarified with the network operator,” says Heilmann.
concerns of the fire service
But how does the fire brigade actually feel about balcony power plants? The Brochure “Balcony PV systems” from the General Association of the German Housing Industry informs that vertically mounted solar panels that do not protrude at an angle from the balcony do not pose a problem if the fire brigade has to use a ladder to reach a balcony in the event of a fire.
“Inclined modules […] On the other hand, the instructors can prevent it, ”it says there. The fire brigade therefore recommends leaving a clearance of 1.20 meters to have enough space for the ladder if there is no space on the side of the balcony for ladders.
Tenants of Pro Potsdam can send a request for a balcony power plant to [email protected]. To date, Pro Potsdam has received around 30 inquiries.
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