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German students call on government to ‘deliver’ on €200 energy payout

The German Student Union has responded with frustration at the lack of a clear deadline for the €200 energy payment promised by the government last year.

Published: 3 February 2023 12:24 CET
Students lecture hall
A student takes notes on their reading material in a lecture hall in Bremen. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Sina Schuldt

Matthias Anbuhl, chairman of the board of the Studierendenwerk (Students’ Union), told the Stuttgarter Zeitung on Friday that ministers needed to finally “deliver” on the long-delayed payout for students and trainees. 

In September, the federal government had signaled that students would be getting a €200 payout as part of a wider relief package to help people with rising costs. 

READ ALSO: Why students in Germany are still waiting for €200 energy payout

“They haven’t received anything yet, although they now have the higher costs for gas and electricity,” Anbuhl added.

Warning politicians to be clear about when the energy payment would arrive, Anbuhl said the long delays in rolling out the payment risked gambling away students’ trust. 

‘Home stretch’

According to Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP), students in Germany shouldn’t have to wait too much longer to get a boost. 

“We are entering the home stretch on this,” the FDP politician told DPA on Wednesday. A spokesperson for the ministry did not want to give a concrete date for the start of the payments, but Stark-Watzinger has previously said it would happen in winter. 

The major issue in delivering the relief payments has been the lack of a central database that records the bank account details of students. The federal government and the states are now trying to bring this data together on a joint online platform so that the money can be applied for centrally there.

READ ALSO: What students in Germany should know about the €200 energy payout

However, the opposition Left Party slammed the government for the lengthy delays and the fact that students were therefore unable to plan financially. 

“What Education Minister Stark-Watzinger and her ministry are doing here is simply embarrassing,” the party’s co-chair, Janine Wissler, told DPA. 

The enormously high gas and electricity bills were no trifling matter, she said, adding that many were in urgent need of payment.

“She must now clarify whether the end of winter means the calendar winter, the meteorological winter or simply a ministerial winter,” said Wissler. 

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CLIMATE CRISIS

How installing solar panels at home is set to become easier in Germany

As part of its drive to roll out renewable energy, Germany has passed a new law that will make it easier to install solar panels on your balcony. Here's what homeowners and renters need to know.

Published: 30 April 2024 09:22 CEST
How installing solar panels at home is set to become easier in Germany

With rising prices affecting almost every area of life, many people are looking for ways to cut costs wherever they can. 

When it comes to electricity, this could include looking at renewable options like installing solar panels on your balcony.

According to data from the Federal Network Agency’s Market Data Register, this is an increasingly popular choice. As of April 2nd this year, there were around 400,000 balcony solar units in operation in Germany, compared to just 230,000 in the summer of last year.

These little photovoltaic systems can be a great way to become more self-sufficient by producing your own energy for the home – but despite the benefits, you may have been put off by fears of mountains of paperwork and an uncertainty around the rules.

READ ALSO: How to install a solar panel on your balcony in Germany (even if you rent)

The government’s new Solar Energy Package, passed on Friday, aims to solve this issue by making it simpler for people in apartments or single-family homes to install solar panels and use their own energy.

It’s part of a major drive to roll out renewable energy in Germany, pushing up photovoltaic capacity from 7.5 gigawatts in 2022 to 22 gigawatts in 2026 and ultimately 215 gigawatts by 2030. 

But what exactly is changing for homeowners and renters? Here’s what we know so far.

Streamlined registration process

Rather than having to register with your local network operator when installing solar panels on your balcony, in future simply registering with the Federal Network Agency’s Market Data Register will suffice. This streamlined process has been in place since April 1st, 2024. 

Increased capacity allowance

Solar devices installed in the home are allowed to be more powerful in future. If your future device has an installed output of up to 2 kilowatts and an inverter output of up to 800 volt-amperes in total, you can register it quickly in a simple and unbureaucratic registration process.

Previously, devices were only allowed an inverter output of up to 600 volt-amperes. 

No barriers on meters

In a transitional measure designed to encourage more people to switch to solar energy, balcony installations can be run through any type of meter on the market.

Solar panels on a German balcony

Solar panels on a balcony in Germany. The government is making it easier for people to produce – and use – their own solar energy. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/iStock.comMaryanaSerdynska | Maryana Serdynska

This includes meters without a backstop, which run backwards when more energy is produced than is used. These, alongside normal one-way meters with a backdrop, will be permitted for a limited time until modern digital meters can be installed. 

Under previous rules, both older types of meter were prohibited. 

Simpler energy storage

In future, balcony solar systems will be able to store energy with a conventional shockproof plug. This will make installation way easier than it was before.

READ ALSO: German government to subsidise up to €30,000 of heating revamp costs

Easier operation of multi-unit buildings

To enable tenants in apartment blocks to use cheaper solar power from roofs, garages or battery storage systems directly, the new instrument of “communal building supply” is being introduced. This eliminates the complicated requirement to feed energy into the general electricity grid and permits residents to use the energy generated themselves.

In future, tenants will also be able to take out an affordable supplementary tariff themselves for electricity that is not covered by their solar installation. Some rules on this still need to be clarified though, so watch this space. 

Tenant subsidies in commercial buildings

In future, tenant electricity will also be subsidised for commercial buildings and ancillary facilities such as garages if the electricity generated there is consumed immediately, i.e. without being fed through the grid.

This allows several energy systems to be combined and should avoid the overwhelming technical barriers that were previously a problem in residential neighbourhoods. 

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