Renewable energies
Solar power generation on urban open spaces and roofs
Photovoltaic systems have been installed and operated on the city's own roofs since 2011. In 2020, an OIE AG ground-mounted PV system was added on city-owned land.
© OIE
City administration of Idar-Oberstein
City administration of Idar-Oberstein
Stefan Tatsch
Table with information on output, electricity generated, avoidance of CO2 emissions, etc.
Location of the PV system:*) Property
fromIn operation since
Power [kW peak] Electricity generated [kWh/year]
CO2 emissions avoided [T/year) Finkenberg-North [F] OIE AG 2020 739,2
770.000
335,7
Idar-Oberstein Trade Fair [D] WISEG 2011 180,2
131.000
57,1
GS Algenrodt [D] WISEG 2011 77,8
50.000
21,8
RS Plus [D] WISEG 2011 29,8
26.000
11,3
GS Idarbachtal [D] WISEG 2013 60,2
45.000
19,6
GS Oberstein [D] OIE AG 2018 99,3
90.000
39,2
GS Oberstein [D] City of Idar-Oberstein 2018 23,1
23.000
10,0
GS Göttschied [D] City of Idar-Oberstein 2020 30,6
32.500
14,2
Administration building 1 City of Idar-Oberstein 2020 64,7
56.000
24,4
Administration building 2 Idar-Oberstein municipal utilities 2020 19,5
unknown
unknown
Fire station 1 [D] City of Idar-Oberstein 2022 28,5
25.500
11,1
Almerich wastewater treatment plant [S] Idar-Oberstein municipal utilities 71,0
unknown
unknown
Total of all systems 1.423,8
1.249.000
544,6
Total city-owned facilities 237,4
137.000
59,7
*) Open space [F], roof [D], other [S]
Total installed PV power
As of 24.05.2024, around 1,424 kWpeak PV module capacity is installed on open urban spaces and roof areas. The amount of solar power generated annually is around 1,249,000 kWh [=1.249 MWh/year].
Would you like to optimize your electricity consumption and save electricity?
Converted, the amount of PV electricity generated as of 24.05.2024 can supply around 308 private 4-person households with electricity each year.
How much electricity does your apartment/house use and how could you reduce your electricity costs? You can find suggestions under the link https://www.co2online.de/energie-sparen/strom-sparen/strom-sparen-stromspartipps/stromverbrauch-im-haushalt/#c120951
Who owns the PV systems on urban open spaces and roofs?
Since 2018, the city has also been investing in the construction and operation of its own PV systems. In 2018, PV systems were installed on the Oberstein secondary school and in 2020 on the Göttschied secondary school for the purpose of using solar power and feeding surplus electricity into the grid. A further system was also installed on Fire Station 1 in 2022 with the help of sponsorship from OIE AG.
Stadtwerke also has its own PV systems at its Almerich wastewater treatment plant. The solar power generated there is used entirely in the wastewater treatment process at the sewage treatment plant.
The ground-mounted system in the Finkenberg-Nord industrial estate listed in the table is owned by OIE AG, as is the PV system with an installed capacity of around 99 kWpeak on the roofs of the GS Oberstein. 100% of the solar power generated is fed into the public grid.
The systems on the exhibition hall, the Algenrodt secondary school, the Realschule Plus secondary school and the Idarbachtal secondary school were installed and operated by the district of Birkenfeld Wirtschaftsförderungs- und Strukturentwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (WISEG) and are owned by them. The solar power generated by almost all of these PV systems is fed 100% into the public grid. The situation is different at GS Idarbachtal, where some of the PV electricity generated is consumed in the elementary school. The remaining solar-generated electricity is fed into the public grid.