Plug-in solar in Freiburg: yield and saving in 2026
Even on an east-facing balcony looking towards the Black Forest, 900 Wp produce about 511 kWh a year in Freiburg; a small household using 1,200 kWh saves €85.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Saving per year
€159
712 kWh of solar power, 62 % of it used at home
| Generation per year | 712 kWh |
|---|---|
| of which used at home | 440 kWh · 62 % |
| into the grid, unpaid | 272 kWh |
| clipped by the inverter (800 VA) | 2 kWh |
| Saving on the electricity bill | €159 |
| Payback | 2.8 years |
| Saving over 20 years | €3,183 |
Step-by-step calculation
- Postcode 79098 (area of Freiburg im Breisgau): 1,121 kWh per kWp at 35° south according to PVGIS for the centre of the postcode.
- Tilt 90° and the chosen direction: 793 kWh per kWp. Times 0.90 kWp: 714 kWh before the inverter.
- Quarter-hour by quarter-hour against 74 metered households using 2,500 kWh a year: the household uses 62 % of the output itself.
- 440 kWh × 36.2 ct = €159 a year; €450 purchase price ÷ saving = payback.
Estimate based on average weather 2005 to 2023 (PVGIS) and metered household loads. A single year can differ by a few per cent. How we calculate
Freiburg is known as a sunshine city, and the data partly bear that out: PVGIS gives 1,121 kWh per kilowatt peak at 35 degrees south for postcode 79098, rank 3 of 15 big cities, behind München and Stuttgart. The figure already includes the terrain horizon that PVGIS calculates from an elevation model, so the Black Forest heights east of the city are accounted for. Freiburg is strong in winter: November to February deliver 17.6 % of the annual yield, rank 2 in the comparison. A plug-in system (Balkonkraftwerk) of 900 Wp hanging upright facing south produces about 712 kWh, facing east 511 kWh, facing west 491 kWh. A single-person household using 1,200 kWh consumes 46 % of the east-balcony output itself and saves €85 a year at 36.2 cents per kWh. With 3,034 plug-in devices in the Market Master Data Register, 12.8 per 1,000 residents, Freiburg has the highest density of the big cities compared; the national average of 18.3 is still higher.
Sunshine city, put to the test
| City | Yield per kWp, 35° south | Share Nov. to Feb. | December vs June |
|---|---|---|---|
| München | 1,137 kWh | 19.1 % | 36 % |
| Stuttgart | 1,127 kWh | 14.7 % | 19 % |
| Freiburg im Breisgau | 1,121 kWh | 17.6 % | 30 % |
Freiburg's reputation as Germany's sunniest big city usually rests on sunshine hours. For a solar system, what counts is the irradiation on the panel surface, and there München and Stuttgart are just ahead. The gap is so small that a single tree in front of your balcony outweighs it. If you move to Freiburg from northern Germany, however, you gain clearly: compared with Hamburg, each kilowatt peak here produces 15 % more.
The Black Forest at your back
To the east, the land rises steeply from the Rhine plain into the Black Forest. PVGIS calculates a horizon for every location from its elevation model (PVGIS documentation), and that horizon is already part of the annual 1,121 kWh. The grid point for 79098 sits at 470 m. For orientation, the engine even puts an east balcony in Freiburg at 511 kWh, ahead of a west balcony at 491 kWh; that conversion, however, comes from PVGIS queries for the whole Upper Rhine region, not for your street.
Down in the city, the mountain shadow in the morning is short. In the side valleys and on the slopes at the city's edge, the sun can clear the ridge much later. If you live there, check on a clear morning when light reaches your balcony and enter the shade in the calculator above: with 15 % shading, an east balcony keeps 434 kWh and a saving of €78.
Most devices per head, by big-city standards
12.8 plug-in devices per 1,000 residents is the highest figure among the 15 cities in this series. That Freiburg still stays below the national 18.3 says more about big cities than about Freiburg: rented flats, little facade of your own, many households without a balcony. The figures come from the public unit list of the Market Master Data Register, retrieved on 15 October 2026, and the population from Destatis.
Roofs in the register: full feed-in instead of batteries
Among its 6,653 building systems, Freiburg stands out twice. 23 % feed all their power into the grid, rank 1 among the big cities and more than the national 22 %. Batteries, by contrast, number only 0.60 per system, rank 15. Some of these are likely older systems built when the feed-in tariff was higher than the electricity price; 42 % face mainly south. That logic does not apply to a balcony system: it is not paid for exports, and its value lies entirely in the power you use. The difference between the models is explained on full or partial feed-in.
A student in the Wiehre
A room with a small east balcony, 1,200 kWh consumption a year, often at the university during the day. The 900 Wp device for €450 produces 511 kWh, but only 236 kWh of it replace grid power, because consumption is low. The saving of €85 a year pays off the device in 5.3 years. A family using 3,500 kWh with a south balcony would reach €184. An old meter may stay in use until it is replaced (section 10a EEG); more on the meter page. Whether the device pays with low consumption is checked on is balcony solar worth it.