German town forces homes to fix solar tiles

Solar panels will soon grace the roofs of the quiet medieval town of Marburg under a controversial new law forcing owners of all new or renovated buildings in its limits to include solar panels, setting a national precedent.

A coalition of Social Democrats and Greens passed the ruling late on Friday to counter climate change and soaring energy prices. Anyone failing to comply will face a €1,000 (
The law stipulates that, from October, a 1 sq metre panel must be built for every 20 sq metres of surface area. It applies to new homes or existing buildings undergoing renovations to heating systems or roofs.

Conservatives said the law went too far: “This is an environmental dictatorship,” said the local Christian Democratic Union leader, Hermann Uchtmann. A local energy trade association said it was investigating legal action to reverse the ruling.

A few German towns have beefed up regulations to encourage energy conservation in new buildings. But Marburg, which is home to 80,000 people, has gone a step further by including the owners of older houses in the new legislation.

Installing the panels could cost homeowners up to €5,000, a figure largely offset by energy savings over 15 years, the town’s Green mayor, Franz Kahle, said.

Environmentalists predicted Marburg would become a trendsetter: “This town is a pioneer for renewable energy in Germany,” said Andree Boehling, an energy expert at Greenpeace in Hamburg.

Guardian