Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) EU energy ministers have been told they should support a EU-wide “solar obligation” to be adopted into EU legislation as soon as possible.
This, it is claimed, will help lower energy bills, enhance Europe’s energy security and help the EU meet its climate commitments.
When they next meet on 25 October, energy ministers are expected to decide their general approach on the European Performance Buildings Directive (EPBD).
As national governments are now scrambling to secure alternative energy sources, the EU “should seize the opportunity to engage with citizens, communities and businesses to untap the large solar energy potential” of Europe’s buildings.
That is the message from the environment group Climate Action Network (CAN).
Such action, it says, will “accelerate the transition away from expensive and dangerous fossil fuels.”
It says, “This is where an EU solar mandate to oblige the installation of solar energy on Europe’s buildings provides the answer.”
The proposal for an EU rooftop solar initiative in the European Commission’s REPowerEU package was highly welcomed in May but to urgently address the current energy price and climate crises, a solar mandate needs to be “more ambitious and implemented as soon as possible,” says CAN.
CAN Europe and the Oeko-Institut recommends that an EU solar mandate should be adopted by summer 2023 and implemented immediately for all new buildings and buildings going under major renovation including their roofs being substantially renewed.
In response to the energy price crisis and climate emergency, some member states have become pioneers of a rooftop solar obligation and the EU, says CAN, “needs to reflect this ambition and come up with a harmonised approach that would ensure scale up of solar energy potential.”
It cites, as an example, the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg which announced earlier this year that the installation of solar panels on homes undergoing fundamental roof renovations will become mandatory on 1 January 2023.
This follows the introduction of mandatory rooftop solar on all new non-residential buildings, open parking lots and public halls in the beginning of 2022.
Other EU countries including Austria, Denmark, France, Greece and the Netherlands have all partly (and varying between countries) introduced solar mandates for their buildings as well as states and cities outside Europe – such as California and most recently, Tokyo.
Seda Orhan, Renewable Energy Campaign Expert at CAN Europe , said, “As energy ministers sit down on 25 October to discuss the amendments proposed in the EPBD, it is the opportune moment for them to begin discussing a solar mandate for Europe’s buildings.
“In the current context, it’s disheartening to see that there aren’t more roofs with solar PVs on them. Making the installation of solar energy mandatory on our buildings is a ‘winning’ initiative that can empower Europe’s citizens, communities, and businesses to generate their own energy, help Europe wean itself off Russian Fossil gas and enhance its energy security, while also reducing emissions. Overall, putting us all on a path to a safer, energy secure future.”
David Ritter, Senior Researcher at the Oeko-Institut, said,“To achieve our climate goals a much faster expansion of solar installations than in recent years is essential.
“An ambitious EU-wide solar mandate is a reliable tool for fast progress in equipping roofs with solar installations. A clear schedule within the solar mandate gives the solar industry reliable signals for the ramp up of production capacities and training of installers to avoid bottlenecks in the realisation of the energy transition.”
