Residential Photovoltaic Power Plant Share Rentals

If you don't have your own roof, you can rent shares of hall roofs or modules in large photovoltaic systems from Remotesolar and use the solar power generated there yourself. We present the start-up's business model and show whether the rental model is worthwhile for private households over 20 years.

At first glance, the principle is very simple: residents who do not have their own roof space can rent shares in a large photovoltaic system from the start-up Remotesolar. The customer can determine the size of his rented share and, if he wants, book a battery storage unit. Remotesolar takes care of the financing, installation and maintenance of the system. For this, customers pay a monthly rent of around ten euros per kilowatt for a fixed period of usually 20 years. It is similar to self-consumption from a photovoltaic system, except that the electricity flows into your own home via the grid. 

For the implementation, house residents conclude two contracts with Remotesolar: The first is a rental agreement for the shares in the open-space system, optionally with storage. For example, a household with shares in the solar park of five kilowatts and one kilowatt hour of battery storage pays a monthly rent of 52 euros in the first three years, according to Remotesolar. From the fourth year onwards it increases to around 58 euros per month. “This is purely a marketing decision to offer the first three years at a discount,” says managing director Michael Schmitz. The contract term is usually 20 years. Theoretically, a shorter period of ten or 15 years is also possible, says Schmitz. “But we have to price shorter periods differently because we need a planning horizon in order to allocate the financing of the solar parks,” says the founder of the start-up. Customers can only end the rental agreement early in cases of hardship.

If a customer has not rented battery storage or if the battery storage is empty, the electricity will be purchased from rental systems or battery storage of other customers. This then costs 25 cents per kilowatt hour including the network fee. Users who sell electricity to others receive nine cents per kilowatt hour as a rent reduction. Each customer can determine for themselves at what times and how much power they release from their storage to others. He can also reserve a specific charge level of the battery storage for himself.

If these three energy sources are not available, Remotesolar purchases on the spot market and passes on the price plus the network fee. “We give the responsibility to the customers, and anyone who has to buy a lot of electricity at peak times, such as at seven in the morning, will find it expensive,” says Schmitz. According to Schmitz's estimate, the average price on the spot market is around 23 cents including all fees. “Our customers have not yet seen the exchange electricity tariff as a major risk,” he says. But it is also possible for customers to freely choose the electricity provider for the remaining electricity. Once you understand the system, you can save a lot of money. 

Own consumption of solar power with network fee

The concept of Remotesolar is similar to the self-consumption of households that have a photovoltaic system on their own roof. However, unlike rooftop systems, solar power flows through the power grid, which incurs fees and makes economic viability more challenging. Similar offers have already shown this in the past . 

For the “growth phase”, as Schmitz describes it, the start-up, which he founded with two other business partners in February 2023, leases existing solar modules in open-space systems or on hall roofs and then rents them out to its customers. A capital increase was carried out by two business angels, which, according to Schmitz, is now enough to cover salaries. “What we need now is an operational partnership,” he says. He currently has 1,000 customers on the waiting list for the first contracts.