From 2022, the PV obligation will apply in Baden-Württemberg. This makes it the first german federal state to require photovoltaic systems on private and public non-residential buildings. Joachim Goldbeck, Managing Director of GOLDBECK SOLAR, sees this development as positive, but also points out the challenges still to come.
In terms of climate protection, Baden-Württemberg is one of the pioneers, but in the field of electricity generation from renewable energies, the state is still lagging behind. With the PV obligation for non-residential buildings, this will change from 2022. Initially, the solar obligation will only apply to new buildings for private and public non-residential buildings.
The coalition partners CDU and Greens had agreed on this in May. Baden-Wuerttemberg’s Environment Minister Franz Untersteller considers it a compromise. Because he and his party would have liked to include residential buildings in the solar obligation. For Joachim Goldbeck, however, the compromise is already a step in the right direction: “Although the PV obligation initially only applies to commercial and industrial buildings, the potential for green energy generation is huge here alone. The decision is therefore a good start, as it once again directs the attention of investors increasingly towards photovoltaics.
However, the agreement is not the end of the story. “Now the state parliament must also pass the new climate protection law,” says Joachim Goldbeck. At the same time, the question arises as to whether the electricity from the PV systems should then be consumed by the state itself or fed into the grid. “It is most economical if the electricity generated is also directly consumed by the people themselves. In the commercial sector, generation and consumption are usually simultaneous. So at the beginning, this question is less important,” explains Joachim Goldbeck. “It is only when the PV obligation also applies to residential buildings that the EEG remuneration will move more into the foreground, so that economic efficiency is maintained”.
But until then, according to Goldbeck, there is still a lot of work to be done by politicians. “The exact requirements must be scheduled so that the solar obligation can be consistently implemented from 2022 onwards.” Hamburg is the next federal state to follow one year later. “The major goal remains the nationwide PV obligation. It is another important component for achieving the climate targets.”
