Chronicle of the SoLaR GmbH
Our company site in Furth near Landshut
Company site of the SoLaR GmbH in Furth near Landshut
One part of the previous monastery brewery was restaurated in 2005 and has since then served as our company site.
Chronicle of the SoLaR GmbH:
The official information policy on the occasion of the reactor catastrophe of Tshernobyl, was not quite acceptable for the public. Therefore, in 1986 around 100 people from Landshut and the area got together to form the non profit organisation: "Association for active environmental awareness" "Gesellschaft für aktives Umweltbewusstsein e.V. (GaU eV)". Target of the association is to put reliable information about radioactivity in the personal surrounding at the disposal of the public.
Ten years later the meanwhile 300 members decided to extend the scope of activities of the association to include the fields of "renewable energies" and "energy transition". The GaU eV joined the working commitee of Bavarian solar initiatives. After a petition for a referendum and two successfull lawsuits against the City of Landshut, the GaU eV managed, with two other local citizen initiatives to push through the so called costcovering refund. The approportionment could thus be increased from 0.15 Pfg/kWp to 1.5 Pfg / kWp. This turned out to be the most effective instrument in reaching the energy transition.
Already in 1996 it was obvious, that the majority of citizens, who had to bear the cost of the energy transition would not be able to take active part for lack of appropriate roofs or relevant funds. To avoid a social sloping of the energy transition, a variety of different types of citizens participation would be required. To avoid endangering the non profit status of the GaU eV, the members founded the Co. SoLaR Operation and Participation for Solar installations (SoLaR Betriebs- und Beteiligungsgesellschaft für Solaranlagen mbH). The constitution of the company clearly states that the investors will only get the same interest for their funds as they would, if they invested in their own installation, the surplus will flow into non profit projets to support the development of renewable energies.
Already in 1999 the first thres solar power plants were errected in Landshut using two different investment concepts. Within the same year, SoLaR GmbH received the order from the community of Furth to develop and implement economic citizen's participation models. Furth is the only German community to be certified by the European Commission for the "Start off campaign to 100 % renewable energies"
Simultaneously with the participation concepts, we were successfull with a ALTERNER II Program, in which the theoretical basis for the energy transition in Furth was developped. Four such projects within Europe have been combined to form the Cluster 7, in which we are in charge of the coordination. Due to these various activities, we are well stocked up with numerous, diversified tasks, which require a corresponding organisation.
After the introduction of the 100 000 roofs programm (1999) and the release of the laws on the priority of renewable energies (EEG) ( 2000) the older participation concepts such as commercial or indirect financial participation were no longer economically effective. Especially the 100 000 roofs programm could only be used in a quite restricted manner.
To reach an economic efficiency of solar power plants on foreign roofs we have thus developped the Citizen's Solar Power Plant concept, in which each investor is owner of his own solar power plant and becomes thus automatically a commercial electric power producer.
At the same time optimization for the investor could be reached, in the field of technology and economic efficiency as well as for the turnover and income tax and the support programms. Communities can thus have large solar power plants without putting the community's finances on the stake. The basis of this concept lies in the use of expenses covering refunding.
In 2000 the concept was first very successfully realised in the Community Furth, among only 3000 inhabitants, 27 investors could be found, their solar power plants reach a total performance of more that 119 kWp. The roof surfaces of the primary school which were at disposal at the beginning were soon no longer sufficient, so that the roof of the sportshall, the sports club house, the secondary school and the pastory were used. At the same time another 60 investors more could be found to install their own solar power plant on their own roof, with a total of 230 kWp. This success was awarded the German Solar Price in Bonn in 2001.
The activities in Furth did of course not go unnoticed by the surrounding communities and within the year 2000 Citizen's Solar Power Plants were errected in Rottenburg (45 kWp), Siegenburg (84 kWp) and Altdorf (54 kWp) according to the same concept.
In 2001 our concept became more widely known and in cooperation with local Agenda 21 groups or Solar initiatives we could install three more Citizen's Solar Power Plants in the area of Landshut (Vilsbiburg 20 kWp, Wurmsham 22 kWp, Ergoldsbach 30 kWp), five in the area of Ebersberg (Glonn 38 and 49 kWp, Vaterstetten 50 kWp, Egmating 39,6 kWp, Neufahrn 27 kWp), three in the area of Munich (Putzbrunn 32 kWp, Unterhaching 27 kWp, Unterschleißheim 58 kWp), two near Neu-Ulm (Pfaffenhofen/Roth 28 kWp, Bellenberg 20 kWp) and one in the area of Eichstätt (Buxheim 20 kWp) . Further two more power plants were installed in Furth (20 kWp und 12 kWp). Seven of these 15 Citizen's Solar Power Plants are on private/church owned roofs such as kindergarten, grocery store, production hall, biological farm, riding stable or office buildings. the others on public buildings such as schools, sportshalls, buildingyards, fire departments or swimming halls.
Even in 2002 the demand for Citizen's Solar Power Plants was unchanged. As the first of its kind in the area of Wolfratshausen a power plant in Egling on the roof of a warehouse went into operation with 57,75 kWp, and in Ebersbach (near Göppingen it is on the roof of a school (with over 84 kWp). Markt Schwaben, Vilsbiburg, Aying, Wolfratshausen and Erding got one plant each and Dorfen and EVG Perlesreut two each.
In the area around Munich, we are partners of SKML GmbH (Solar Power Plants Munich Area GmbH), which also started out from a non profit association the "Solar Initiative Munich Area eV (SIMLA). With a financial participation of the community of Unterhaching and support by the district office of the area of Munich. SKML has the energy transition as much at heart as we do.
The non profit association "Sunpower Freising" has also founded their own GmbH to be able to support the energy transition by realizing Citizen's Solar Power Plants . However in this case there is no cooperation what so ever. They only copy our concept without our permission.
Besides our special field, the Citizens Solar Power Plants, in which we realized 1955 kWP by the end of 2008, we naturally also assemble solar power plants for individuals or companies or their own roof. Up to now we realized around 5299 kWp, so that we brought a total of about 7000 kWp to the net.
