Space heating and hot water account on average for 85 percent of the annual energy consumption in German households. Rising raw material prices and the CO₂ price, which will apply from 2021, make free solar heat increasingly attractive. With a solar thermal system for heater support and water heating, home owners can do without their gas boiler completely in the summer, or they can combine solar thermal energy with a second renewable heating technology and heat in an entirely climate-neutral way. And all this with attractive subsidies!
For district heating customers, too, solar thermal energy together with other renewable energies offers the opportunity to move away from fossil fuels and towards climate-neutral heating.
The German Solar Association, as the representative body for the German solar industry, actively participates in the public debate on energy policy. In dialogue with political decision-makers, industry representatives, the media, and the public, the association develops positions and concepts on current issues of energy policy. We actively support the transition in heating—there is still much to be done in German boiler rooms and district heating networks!
At the turn of the year 2019/2020, there have been numerous improvements from the perspective of homeowners interested in solar heat: In addition to the completely new tax incentives for heating replacement, the subsidy rates for solar heating systems in the Market Incentive Program (MAP) were significantly increased, particularly in existing buildings.
With the tax incentives, consumers get 20 percent of the investment sum for their new solar heating system back from the state—quite simply and without any prior application or energy advice. The subsidy sum is deducted from the tax liability.
The amended MAP of the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA) is even more attractive due to significantly higher subsidy rates. Here, as an alternative to tax incentives, investors receive a subsidy of up to 45 percent—depending on the other heat source with which they combine the solar collectors. Consumers can also decide, as before, whether they want to receive the subsidy as a grant, or a loan through the federally owned KfW banking group covering the entire investment sum, from which they will receive the subsidy as an amortization subsidy.
How Does the Application Process Work?
Funded plants must be approved in advance. The application for funding must therefore be submitted to BAFA before the contract is awarded to a suitable installer. After receiving the confirmation of receipt, the measure can be started at one’s own risk. If the eligibility of the installation appears to be largely undisputed, this risk can be taken. One is on the safe side if the measure start only after the approval of the subsidy by BAFA has been granted.
All information, including the application procedure and funding rates, can be found on the
BAFA
website.
Helpful Links on Funding (in German)
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Improvements in the Market Incentive Program (MAP)
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Improvements in KfW funding
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Tax incentives
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Leaflet of the German Solar Association (PDF)