<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/energy-villages-schonau-germany-renewable-power/>
"Walter Falger is a rebel with a cause. A soft-spoken retired policeman with a
passion for beekeeping, he might not look the part in his black reading glasses
and gray polo shirt. But along with a small army of like-minded neighbors in
the Black Forest region of Germany, he considers himself an “energy rebel” as
an early adopter in what he calls “the revolution of energy sharing.”
The seeds of this revolution are a community experiment in Schönau, where
Falger and 24 others founded the Virtual Citizen Power Plant as a model project
in 2017. The group — among them, local farmers, stay-at-home moms, IT experts
and artists — share the energy they need for their homes and offices.
“We deliberately accepted applications from a very diverse range of people,”
project manager Frederik Penski says. “Oldtimers and newbies, seniors and young
couples, from very tech-savvy to tech-illiterate.” The only thing they all have
in common is the willingness to invest their time and efforts in this new model
to achieve energy sovereignty.
Solar panels line the roofs of homes in Schönau. Photo courtesy of EWS
Every household in the group contributes the renewable energy it collects — for
instance, through solar panels or thermal power stations — to the virtual power
plant. At any given time, every group member can see how much energy is
available in this virtual plant, as well as how much they are producing and
using, individually and collectively. They can then adjust their own energy
consumption accordingly, first using as much green energy as they’re producing
themselves; then, as much as has been made available by the other members; and
finally, selling any left over back to the grid. If every member of the group
chooses to do this, they are effectively drawing no electricity from the grid.
For now, the group is regional — the closest member lives just a few houses
down from Falger — but there’s no reason the model couldn’t extend to anybody
who wants to participate. A Hamburg homeowner could “share” the surplus energy
from her rooftop solar panels with a farmer in Bavaria whose electric tractor
needs a charge.
“Think of it like you’re throwing a cable over to your neighbor and saying,
hey, my solar panels produce enough energy for both of us, but virtually,”
explains Penski."
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
