Solar Prosumers in the German Energy Transition: A Multi-Level Perspective Analysis of the German ‘ Mieterstrom ’ Model

Raphael Moser, Chun Xia-Bauer, Johannes Thema and Florin Vondung
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Raphael Moser: Energy, Climate and Transport Policy Division, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, 42103 Wuppertal, Germany
Chun Xia-Bauer: Energy, Climate and Transport Policy Division, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, 42103 Wuppertal, Germany
Johannes Thema: Energy, Climate and Transport Policy Division, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, 42103 Wuppertal, Germany
Florin Vondung: Energy, Climate and Transport Policy Division, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, 42103 Wuppertal, Germany

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 4, 1-16

Abstract: The expansion of photovoltaics in German cities has so far fallen short of expectations. The concept of ‘tenant electricity’ (‘ Mieterstrom ’ in German), in which tenants of a building are supplied with solar power produced on site, offers great potential here. A study on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy estimated the number of tenant households with good conditions for solar tenant electricity at 3.8 million. At the same time, the federal tenant electricity promotion scheme has been in place since 2017, but only about 1% of the annual budget has been claimed. The aim of this study is to identify the barriers for and drivers of diffusion of the tenant electricity model. To this end, a qualitative document analysis and a range of semi-structured expert interviews have been conducted. The theoretical framework used to guide the analysis is the multi-level perspective. The main barrier found for tenant electricity diffusion is the legal framework on the regime level, which also leads to high transaction costs of implementing tenant electricity. A social barrier is the inertia of some residents to actively concern themselves with their electricity supply and switch to a tenant electricity contract. Among its drivers are long-term trends such as the increasing electricity demand in urban areas, technical developments like blockchain technology and the increasing deployment of smart meters, and the EU Renewable Energy Directive. As long as the restrictive legal framework prevails, the further diffusion of tenant electricity will remain limited.

Keywords: urban energy transition; decentralized electricity generation; multi-level perspective; photovoltaics; Germany (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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