Shine On Policycast
Shine On Policycast is a podcast presented by SolarPower Europe. In these episodes, we bring you EU policy updates relevant to solar, in under 20 minutes.
Our host, Bethany Meban, Head of Press and Policy Communications at SolarPower Europe, interviews different voices from our team of policy and market intelligence experts. As we enter a new political era in the EU, each episode dives into how solar is delivering on Europe's competitiveness, security and climate goals. The podcast is produced by Lily Murdoch, Digital Communications Advisor at SolarPower Europe.
Who are we? SolarPower Europe is the award-winning link between policymakers and the solar PV value chain. We represent over 320 companies and organisations from the solar value chain, and our mission is to ensure solar becomes Europe’s leading energy source by 2030.
Shine On Policycast
BONUS EPISODE: 5 numbers in 5 minutes | Plug-in Solar PV
Catch up on the latest EU solar market figures with this bonus episode of Shine On Policycast. In just 5 minutes, Leah Le Pénuizic, Market Analyst at SolarPower Europe, shares five key numbers from our recently published paper on Plug-In Solar PV. We dive into what plug-in solar is, and how the technology is advancing in Europe.
This is Shine On Policycast, SolarPower Europe's podcast dedicated to EU policy about solar, with updates in 20 minutes or less. Welcome to this bonus episode of Shine On Policycast, where we share five numbers in five minutes or less to update you about the solar market in Europe. And I'm Bethany. Today, I'm joined by Leah Le Pénuizic, who is one of our market analysts here at SolarPower Europe. So welcome, Leah. Hi, Bethany. And we've just launched a brand new first ever report on Plug-in Solar. And Leah is going to tell us a little about what that is and some of the key numbers about it in Europe. But in order for you to do that, Leah, we won't make it so easy for you. We're going to flip our lovely yellow hourglass timer and give you five minutes. So in three, two, one, I'm going to invite you to take it away! Thanks, Bethany. I guess I'll just jump right in. My first number is 800W. 800W is roughly the average size of a plug-in solar kit, system or device. What does that mean? If one module is 400W, that means it's two modules, two panels. It's a two solar panel kit that you can just connect directly into your home power circuit, using a microinverter that will convert the direct current generated by the panels into alternating current that is used in your house to power baseload appliances that continuously draw power throughout the day, like your WiFi router, your refrigerator, your alarm system, that kind of thing. That will take me to my next number. In fact, you've probably heard about this technology before under a different name. Plug-in solar is also known as'Balcony Solar', 'Plug & Play Solar', also 'Mini Solar System' sometimes. Balcony solar comes from Germany. Germany is the largest market for plug-in solar. The popular term balcony comes from there because you can see a lot of balcony solar installed on balconies. But in fact, my number is this, is that less than a third, so 29% of all plug-in systems on the German market, according to the latest data, is actually installed on balconies because you can install these on other places. So, popular locations are also in your garden, on your terrace, on your wall in a façade disposition, also on your roof. So, if you have a flat garage roof, you can place it there, but also on your inclined roof, like a standard rooftop installation. My third number is a bit of a range. So how much do plug-in solar kits contribute to your electricity bill? The range we have is 5 to 25%. That's a bit of a large range. Why is that? Of course, it'll depend on a lot of things. How many modules you have? It could be two, it could be one, three or more. It depends which country you're based in, of course, local electricity prices, etc. But it also depends where you install it and how it's positioned. In an ideal case, your panel is inclined 35° towards the sun, oriented south, etc. But that's not always the case for plug-in systems. We talked about sometimes they're vertically installed on a balcony, or also they're affected by a lot of shading that comes from other buildings. Taking into account all of these potential losses that come from that, we estimate that, for example, in Germany, plug-in kits of two panels can contribute 10 to 15% to your electricity bill. This brings me to my fourth number, which is a bit of a two in one because we're talking about price and we're talking about payback time. How much does it cost actually to get one of these solar kits? Again, if we're looking at two panels, on the German market at the moment, we're seeing prices from €400 to €700. If we want to buy just one panel, we're seeing this is as low as €200. That's really quite cheap because that includes everything that's in the kit. What's in your kit? You've got your panel, you've got your microinverter, but you've also got your mounting structure. Depending, again, if it's on your balcony or on your wall or in your garden, there'll be different kinds of mounting structures, and that also comes with cable, etc. We also see on the market more and more plug-in systems that come with storage. This is small-scale storage. Of course, in those cases, the price goes upwards of €1,000 instead, but that's also an interesting development. Plenty of time for number 5 there. Yeah! Just to mention, we talked about price and payback time now. Given these prices, in Germany, we're looking something like 2-6 years. That's higher, perhaps, or different in other countries. But this is quite interesting, quite a low payback time, especially given the fact that you can plug in your kit, but you can also plug it out and take it with you if you move homes, for example. That's an interesting one. But again, this can be lower or higher in different countries. In Spain, for example, the payback time could be a bit longer. My fifth number is looking specifically at the German market. Like I said, Germany is the biggest market for plug-in solar, and it's also the country that has the most available data on this technology. In 2024, two out of five solar installations registered to the German grid were in fact plug-in solar. That's counting all installations, including standard rooftop installations that you have on your roof that are installed by electricians. Two out of five were in fact plug-in solar. That's quite impressive. That just shows as well that there's there's a real demand on this market, so there's a lot of systems being installed. In fact, by the end of 2024, the official data counts more than 708,000 systems on the grid. However, the real number of systems that's actually connected is probably more than that, because a lot of systems aren't registered, and estimates look at least twice the amount of solar plug-in kits could be connected to the grid because it's quite hard to track. You can just buy your system, you can plug it in. And although it's mandatory to connect it, it's not always done. But what we do know is that... We have these numbers for Germany. We're out of time now. We just got out of time, but I'll let you finish. Yes, thanks! The report we're launching, it's looking at Germany, but also the market in other EU countries. We don't have much data about other countries, but what we do know is that there's increased interest in the technology in other countries, like in France, in the Netherlands, in Austria, Spain, and in good old Belgium, Brussels, where we are right now. They're going to legalise the technology in April. So definitely lots to be talked about. Wow it looks like there's almost definitely millions of these systems already in Europe. So it's great to have now a report to map some of these numbers and the potential. So you can check that out. It's on our SolarPower Europe website. But thanks so much Leah, for sharing your insights today. And I'm sure as this technology grows, you'll be back on the podcast to give us another update. I hope so. Yeah. Thanks for listening to this episode of Shine On Policycast. Make sure to subscribe and turn on notifications to get updates about new episodes. Shine on.