When the Solarinvest subsidy program was launched this year, the servers were overloaded due to the demand. There shouldn't be a new edition. With the new budget, however, there could be other funding. The CDU makes a proposal.
Erfurt (dpa/th) - After the announced end for the recently heavily used Solarinvest subsidy program, the Thuringian CDU parliamentary group has called for new state subsidies for solar systems. There is an income and asset structure in Thuringia that makes funding necessary, said the energy policy spokesman for the CDU parliamentary group, Thomas Gottweiss, of the German Press Agency in Erfurt. During the negotiations on the new 2023 budget, around 3.34 million euros were included. The budget is to be passed next Thursday in a special session of the state parliament.
Only about two weeks ago, the Ministry of the Environment declared that it did not want to relaunch Solarinvest, citing the changed federal subsidies as the reason. Accordingly, investing in a photovoltaic system on your own roof pays off without additional money from the state. For several years, state financial injections for the installation of solar systems and electricity storage systems, especially on house roofs, were granted via the Solarinvest program.
When the program was launched again in April 2022, the money was gone within a short time. According to the Ministry of the Environment, around 5.2 million euros were available for new applications in the current year - i.e. money that was not already tied up with older applications from the previous year. At times, shortly after the opening of the application process, the development bank's servers were overloaded due to the large number of people.
Money for Solarinvest was also included in the new draft budget - but it was millions that still have to be paid out from applications made in 2022. New applications should no longer be possible.
Gottweiss argued that in the energy crisis with immense costs for electricity and gas, everything that helps people to help themselves must be supported. The CDU parliamentary group therefore has a subsidy for sector coupling in mind, as can be seen from an application for the state parliament entitled "Energy plan for Thuringia: Self-sufficiency bonus for private home ownership". The application has been submitted to the dpa. This means that anyone who combines their solar or photovoltaic system on the roof with a geothermal heat pump for heating or with a charging option for an electric car should receive a subsidy - if it is intended for their own use. You want to help homeowners to invest in such technology.
"It's important for us that things continue for the time being," said Gottweiss. However, it cannot be ruled out that the funds available will not be able to cover the demand. One would have wished for more money for such a program.
