Berlin (dpa) – Germany’s Federal Cabinet has decided to ease the regulations governing the installation of solar panels. The idea is to make it easier for private individuals and commercial companies to build and operate them. The reform is to reduce bureaucracy and further accelerate the expansion of solar energy in Germany, which has been gathering pace of late. After the Cabinet, the Bundestag still has to review the reform and approve the law so that it can enter into force at the turn of the year.
The operation of so-called balcony power plants, i.e. small solar panels, is to be made significantly easier, as is the use of self-generated photovoltaic power in blocks of flats. The scope for installing solar panels on agricultural land is also to be extended.
The government’s goal, as part of the energy transition, is to increase the proportion of German gross power consumption that is covered by renewable energies to 80 percent by 2030. According to the government, new photovoltaic capacities of around 7.5 gigawatts were built last year. This year, capacities of more than 7.5 gigawatts had once again been added by July, with the additional annual output expected to be in the double digits.
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