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Berlin Overhauls Solar Aid, Prioritizing Big Roofs and Blackout Resilience

The move redirects funding toward larger rooftop systems to deliver measurable gains after a September outage exposed vulnerabilities.

Overview

  • Berlin will allocate €10 million per year for the next two years to continue its Solarplus program.
  • Starting January 2026, Solarplus splits into two tracks for single or two‑family homes and for multi‑family, commercial and industrial projects, with simpler, faster applications and existing submissions remaining valid.
  • The city ends subsidies for plug‑in balcony systems after more than 19,000 funded units, citing lower prices that make them economical without support.
  • Policy now targets large rooftops on commercial halls, industrial buildings and apartment blocks to raise solar’s share toward 25% by 2035, with installed capacity roughly doubling since 2022 to about 474 MWp.
  • Following a September outage that hit around 50,000 customers for up to 60 hours, Berlin is pursuing a resilience plan to underground lines, double grid capacity within a decade, and fund backup‑capable PV so onsite solar can operate during blackouts.