Wow. Thats interesting to hear. Certainly very different here. Blackouts are no issue in Germany. Its been many years that I seen one here, cant even remember when. And if it happens its just for 10 minutes or so.
The refunding system was not the idea of the power companies, of course. At first, they tried to make it as difficult as possible to put up solar panels or wind turbines. But when the Green Party was in the government coalition, 10 years ago or so, they installed the Renewable Energy Act, a law that was made to promote - take a guess - renewable energy.
It all has a downside as well, though. To fund the extra money that is payed to producers of renewable energy, all customers of the power companies have to pay a additional few cent per kw/h - except the industrial customers.
This has caused a lot of debate already. Also, because a solar energy installation has become a lot cheaper than it was when the law was made.
The wind turbines are a different subject. Its not something you can do in your garden anymore. A professional wind turbine costs about 1.5 mio Euro. And its 150m high, with a 75m rotor. They can only be erected in the county side, as a proper commercial investment. One of those alone can supply a small village with power. And the construction of those things has created a entire new industry, with tenthousands of jobs.
RE: D.I.Y. SOLAR POWER SYSTEM BY @davethediyguy BEING ENERGY INDEPENDENT Part 2