Record for solar power

Automatically stored draft

By 2030, 100 percent of our electricity should be green. This is to be achieved with further measures (symbolic image).

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/Alphaspirit)

There are already 420,000 PV systems on roofs, making us number one in Europe in terms of expansion per capita. A new plan plus subsidies should increase the pace even further.

According to the government plan, one million roofs are to be equipped with photovoltaic panels by 2030. As of now, "420,000 roofs are already solar power plants, which means we are even ahead of schedule in terms of expansion," beams Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens). In the previous year alone, 2.6 times as much new solar capacity was built as in 2022, making Austria the EU leader in growth. Together with wind and hydropower, our entire electricity demand could already be covered from renewable sources by May.

Here you can see how the annual installed capacity has developed.

However, PV generation must increase significantly from seven to eleven terawatt hours by 2030. To achieve this, there is a new integrated plan. For example, the federal states need to create better framework conditions for building regulations, spatial planning, etc. and investors also need long-term foundations. It is also crucial that a new energy system also takes heating, e-mobility, grids and storage systems into account together. And in order to maintain the high level of public acceptance for additional solar areas, an information campaign should be launched.

Storage for own consumption important
Gewessler asserts that the fact that some private PV systems currently have no grid access at all because the regional suppliers do not need the electricity is the exception. However, energy expert Hubert Fechner adds that it often makes sense to plan the solar roof only for personal use and not to calculate with the feed-in of surpluses into the grid. Storage systems are also important so that you can also cover your own needs at night, e.g. for your electric car.

In order to strengthen the domestic and European solar industry, a new subsidy for large systems with an output of 35 kWp or more will be introduced from the fall. The "Made in Europe" bonus accounts for up to 20 percent of the price.