A coalition of 18 organisations has urged EU member states to require photo voltaic be put in on all new and renovated buildings, in addition to present non-residential buildings.
In a letter despatched immediately to EU vitality ministers and the European Parliament, signatories wrote that accelerating photo voltaic deployment on buildings is important to assist vitality safety for the upcoming winters and improve the resilience of Europe’s vitality system.
Earlier this 12 months, the European Fee proposed an EU Solar Rooftop Initiative, as a part of REPowerEU plans to scale back the continent’s fossil fuel dependency.
To maximise the potential of the initiative throughout the EU Vitality Efficiency of Buildings Directive, the letter urges the inclusion of a requirement to put in photo voltaic on all new buildings in addition to these being renovated.
“It is a low-hanging fruit, no-regret resolution, already adopted in a number of member states,” stated the letter, which was signed by commerce physique SolarPower Europe and might be read here.
Citing knowledge from the European Joint Analysis Centre, the letter stated that photo voltaic PV on buildings can ship 25% of Europe’s annual electrical energy demand, equal to the electrical energy consumption of Germany and Poland mixed.
“The answer to reducing vitality payments, making certain vitality safety, and assembly our local weather ambitions is true over our heads: rooftop photo voltaic,” stated Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO at SolarPower Europe.
“An formidable photo voltaic requirement on all buildings will assist the speedy roll-out of environment friendly, decarbonised photo voltaic buildings, whereas encouraging the enlargement of the required inexperienced workforce.”
To assist the event of an on-site photo voltaic mandate, regulatory frameworks should replicate the worth of photo voltaic vitality in comparison with cumulated prices from retail electrical energy or fuel, in line with the organisations.
They stated rooftop PV installers must be given sufficient monetary and technical assist, whereas financing schemes must be made accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises and low-income households to scale back the capex funding for a photo voltaic system.
At the moment, seven EU international locations have a photo voltaic mandate on renovated buildings and 9 have a mandate on new buildings, in line with SolarPower Europe, which stated in a press launch: “Now could be the time to make it an EU norm.”
