freiburg leading germany's green energy revolution - residential energy storage systems

This story is part of the CBC news special report on climate change issues related to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21)
Heldin, Paris, November. 30 to Dec. 11.
When you cross the border from France into the South, one of the first things you will notice --
West Germany is the dark light of solar panels on the roof --
Top, like a bunch of bathroom tiles.
Fort Freiburg at the southern tip of the Black Forest and other nearby towns and villages have become the solar hub of Germany, located in one of the country's most sunny places known for its blue sky.
What is little known is that
As the frontier city of renewable energy, the nuclear movement has played a role in the development of Fort Freiburg.
Dieter Seifried is an engineer (and author)
He arrived in the area in 1973 and plans to build a nuclear power plant near the village of Wyhl.
But not long after he changed his mind
You can't convince him today that nuclear power is a safe or clean alternative to fossil fuels.
While neighboring France gets about electricity from nuclear power, "you'll first see that it's not clean at all, second, it's expensive, and third, we have a lot of unresolved issues, for example, where do we store the waste.
"There is still no solution.
"1981, Seifried
A research institute has been set up to start studying alternative forms of energy, and when critics say the lights will go out without the Wyhl nuclear power plant, they are determined to prove them wrong.
It published a study called Energiewende, which has become a by-product
The vocabulary of German energy policy is translated into "energy transformation ".
"But in a small office in a tree-lined neighborhood in Freiburg, sefridges says it's more like a revolution when people start to change their minds,
No more nukesThe protests back at 1970-
Initially led by students and farmers
The construction of the nuclear power plant was successfully prevented.
No such reaction.
The nuclear movement there may not have the power to explore alternative energy sources.
More than 30 years later, Germany's electricity comes from renewable sources.
After the Fukushima nuclear leak in Japan in 2011, Germany promised to phase out 17 nuclear reactors by 2022.
Despite its high carbon dioxide emissions, it is trying to reduce its dependence on coal. Germany's anti-
The nuclear movement has also done something else: it has formed a strong community spirit that brings people together to try to change their energy future.
Local activists say this is equally important in the subsequent revolution in renewable energy.
"Most of what happened in Freiburg was not the decision of the local government," said sefrid . ".
"This is the initiative of the people who work in this area, and then the government has to accept it, or be forced to accept it, or be persuaded to accept it. "Self-
This is a modern-
A renaissance man who runs a community-developed company today.
The renewable energy projects we have, he said, "in a very real sense, we are providing them with electricity by allowing people to produce their own products . ".
This comes largely from the agricultural tradition of Germany, the self. reliant.
"When he picked me up from my solar car --
At the Power Hotel in the city center, he is ready to smile and Glen Gould's Goldberg variant on the CD player.
Pesch has been in North America for a long time, where he teaches literature and does translation, and he likes to notice similarities in this part of Germany and BC.
The first stop is the football field.
"The first community project here is on the roof of the stadium in SD Freiburg, the first football stadium in Germany with PV [
Photovoltaic Materials]
"He said.
"At the time Freiburg had just entered the Premier League, so it helped.
"But what really changed Germany was the introduction of a clean energy bill in 2000 that forced utilities to pay a fixed fee called" feed --
Charge electricity bills to anyone who supplies electricity to the grid.
Ten years later, the bill set an example for other countries, including Ontario, to enable small energy producers to economically offset higher costs for green.
At the same time, advances in technology make wafers-
Thin solar panels equipped with photovoltaic are affordable.
Market distortion?
Critics say,
Tariff market-
Distorted subsidies reduce power value while still pushing up energy costs, causing trouble for the country's big utility companies.
But Pesch says it's far-sighted.
"We realized Maggie Thatcher's dream and everyone should be entrepreneurs," he joked . ".
"Anyone, any householder, any farmer can do solar and wind energy, even bio-energy without major problems.
But that farmer can't run a big coal.
Thermal power plant.
"The result is a structural shift in the energy market that breaks down the energy market to very local levels, making it difficult for traditional large utility companies to do this --
Pesch calls it a dinosaur.
But dinosaurs are now fighting back and lobbying the Berlin government to reduce investment in renewable energy.
In particular, some cities in northern Germany have invested in old energy companies, which has increased pressure on the central government.
"It's a victory for society, yes," Seifried said of the shift to renewable energy, "but it's not a big victory for all.
"He pointed out the loss of share on the business page of the big German energy companies and predicted the difficult times for energy companies in the future.
There is no sign that Germany's renewable energy industry is in recession.
The fraunhove Solar Systems Institute in Freiburg employs about 1,200 people and is one of the most important solar research facilities in the world.
Some people say this is the future.
Deputy Director Dr. Andrés bete said: "We are not only concerned about the concern of fraunhove for photovoltaic, but also about the universal significance of energy-saving technology and the establishment of integration in mobility, heat.
Storage Research can offset the instability of renewable systems and is one of the areas of interest today.
"Because only in the case of sunshine and wind can we produce it, sobetween? " asks Bett.
This is probably the battery.
It could be hot storage.
It could be converted from electricity to hydrogen.
"What Bett, Seifried and Pesch are all counting on is the goodwill of the German people who see this as their real desire to act on climate change.
Polls in Germany show people are still willing to pay more than dirty for clean and renewable energy.
Of course, once you start producing your own power through wind, solar or other means, "you'll be more aware of what's going on," Pesch said.
"Because you will realize what efforts are needed to produce this very valuable commodity.
The logical consequence of doing so, of course, is that people become energy savers.