Tenants use around 80 percent of their balcony electricity themselves
Published
The balcony modules with which EWE has equipped an entire apartment building in Delmenhorst have been in operation for a year. The yield balance shows that tenants use almost 80 per cent of the solar electricity themselves and can cover up to 20 per cent of their electricity consumption with it.
In the context of the Green Deal, the EU's tightened targets on the path to climate neutrality envisage a reduction in CO2 emissions of 55% by 2030 and 100% by 2050. Against the background of these tightened parameters, the question arises as to the impact on the energy transition in Germany. Based on its energy system model REMod, Fraunhofer ISE has calculated the consequences of the new EU targets for the expansion of renewable energies in Germany and now presents the results in a short study.
In February 2020, Fraunhofer ISE presented the study "Pathways to a Climate-Neutral Energy System - The Energy Transition in the Context of Societal Behaviour", which investigated the influence of societal behaviour on possible transformation paths of the German energy system towards an almost complete reduction of energy-related CO2-emissions in the year 2050. The calculations carried out with the REMod energy system model were based on the targets set by the German government at the time of preparation, i.e. a reduction in German CO2-emissions by 55% in 2030 and 95% in 2050 compared to 1990.
In response to the tightening of the European targets from 40% to 55% by 2030, which has now been implemented as part of the European Green Deal, the Institute has recalculated. The transformation paths for Germany considered in the February study were revised with a view to reducing Germany's CO2-emissions of 65% in 2030 and complete climate neutrality of the energy system in 2050. The scientists from Freiburg recalculated all scenarios of their study from February (reference, insistence on conventional technologies, unacceptance of large infrastructure measures, sufficiency). As an additional aspect, they added an investigation of the sensitivity for import prices of green hydrogen and synthetic fuels. The short study mainly considers the reference scenario in order to be able to go into more detail on the changes caused by the target tightening. However, the study also identifies corridors for the expansion of a variety of technologies that can be derived from different scenarios. In the case of photovoltaics and wind, annual additions of 10-14 GW and 9 GW respectively are required by 2030 in order to achieve sufficient CO2-free electricity for Germany.
"The update of our energy end-use study shows that achieving the climate protection targets, even with a greater reduction in greenhouse gas emissions than previously assumed, is feasible from a technical and systemic point of view, albeit with greater efforts," says Dr Christoph Kost, head of the Energy Systems and Energy Economics Group and author of the short study. "A target tightening of energy-related CO2-emissions leads to a higher direct or indirect use of renewably generated electricity in the consumption sectors. This in turn requires a much greater expansion of wind and solar power generation facilities." Furthermore, the short study shows that the expansion of fluctuating renewable energies requires a strong expansion of system flexibility.
If we want to achieve a reduction in CO2emissions by 65% by 2030, battery-electric vehicles must account for 30-35% of passenger transport in the mobility sector, for example. In a climate-neutral energy system by 2050, conventional internal combustion engines will be virtually eliminated from passenger car transport as well as from freight transport.
"Heat pumps - used in households or to supply district heating networks - must become a key technology for heat supply with immediate effect," says Institute Director Prof. Dr. Hans-Martin Henning, summarising the results for the building sector. With a view to the CO2-avoidance costs, he adds: "The tightening of the target used here leads to an increase in CO2-avoidance costs. However, these depend to a large extent on the development of final energy demand."
Link to the study "Pathways to a climate-neutral energy system - The energy transition in the context of societal behaviour", February 2020, update December 2020:
In this tutorial, Anne Albrecht, building consultant at Faktor X Agentur, shows you in detail how to enter an example house in massive construction into the climate and resource protection tool (KuRT) from start to finish.
In Vienna, as a rule, no residential building may be erected without a solar system in the future. This is stipulated in an amendment to the building code, which is currently being evaluated, the red-green city government informed on Monday. Currently, such a photovoltaic obligation applies only to industrial buildings.
With the upcoming amendment, the requirement will now be extended to educational buildings on the one hand and to residential buildings on the other, informed Kathrin Gaal (SPÖ), city councillor for housing, and Peter Kraus, spokesperson for the Green Party on planning, in a joint statement.
Funding incentives
"The amount of the obligation for residential buildings is calculated in such a way that the electricity produced can be consumed directly in the house (e.g. in the common parts of the house)," the press release explained. Thanks to subsidy incentives, however, the city hall hopes that many building applicants will not only comply with the minimum requirements, but will also install larger systems for converting solar energy into electricity, if this makes sense.
If it is not possible to install a solar system in a new building for legal, technical or economic reasons, the developer must offer replacement areas in order to meet the obligation. However, residential buildings are exempt from this requirement.
With the amendment of the Vienna Building Code, the city also wants to take a step towards digitalisation. The amendment creates a legal basis for the electronic processing of all official steps such as the submission of the building notification, the application for a building permit, the notification of the start of construction or the notification of completion. However, the authority has the possibility to demand the submission of a copy of the building plans in the electronic approval procedure, if this is necessary for the implementation of the procedure.
Gaal saw the announced reform as a way "to optimally prepare Vienna for the opportunities and challenges of climate change and digitalisation". "Solar systems on Vienna's roofs will become the standard and accelerate the phase-out of fossil energy," added Kraus.
The ForschungsVerbund Erneuerbare Energien (FVEE) is today publishing its latest conference volume entitled "Research for the energy transition - shaping the energy system". The presentations collected here from the last annual conference present current research results and instruments for a successful energy transition.
The spectrum of contributions ranges from scenarios for the transformation of the energy system to the importance of sector coupling, grids and storage systems to the specific roles of the various renewable technologies such as photovoltaics, wind energy and bioenergy in a sustainable energy system.
The conference proceedings "Research for the Energy Transition - Shaping the Energy System" are available to all interested parties on the internet and can also be ordered there as a printed booklet free of charge.
About the Research Association for Renewable Energies
The Renewable Energies Research Alliance is a nationwide cooperation of research institutions. The members research and develop technologies for renewable energies, energy efficiency, energy storage and the optimised technical and socio-economic interaction of all system components. The common goal is to transform the energy supply into a sustainable energy system.
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