June was a busy month for us with events like Ecosummit and Intersolar. Speaking to a lot of clients, partners and Start Ups there, it was pretty obvious that “Mieterstrom” is seen as a huge opportunity both for electricity end users as well as for innovative Start ups. 

In essence, with “Mieterstrom” (or tenant electricity), the roofs of apartment blocks are fitted with solar panels to supply several tenants with electricity. The legislation on tenant electricity regulates the generation and distribution of electricity for multi-party buildings. State subsidies are available under certain circumstances. Solar technology is typically used for tenant electricity, but wind turbines, combined heat and power plants or cogeneration plants can also be considered.

Supplying your own electricity is cheaper than buying it on the market, for example because the public electricity grid is not used and therefore no grid fees are incurred. However, the expansion of tenant electricity is faltering, mainly due to a lack of consistent standards and regulations. 

This is a shame if you think about the potential. Of the 19 million households in apartment blocks, up to 14.3 million could benefit from so-called tenant electricity. 

So the ball is in the regulator`s court to make it easier to install “Mieterstrom”. The technology is available to make a difference!