Balkonkraftwerk (Balcony Power Station)

This post was originally published on golifelog.com.

Recently I got a pretty big electric bill and have an additional payment of more than €300. I’ve been calculating around mounting two solar panels on my balcony in the past, but always thought about the hassle of mounting them and buying them. Well, that huge power bill (in total more than €1500) and having no tax on solar panels anymore (a new kind of grant, instead of getting money back, you save on not paying 20% tax) it was finally time to buy them.

They turned out a little bit larger than I thought, and it was quite a challenge to get them onto the 3rd floor my Apartment sits on. After some quick fiddling around I was able to plug in the first panel without problems and now part of my electric power consumption is already handled by that panel. Sure, it is a hacky solution for this week, but my dad will come along on the weekend so we can properly mount them.

Of course, it will be a while before I’ll be net positive on money, but it is still better than nothing. I'll keep you updated on how much it produces.