By investing in community-funded solar power plants, Viennese citizens have the opportunity to participate in the development of renewable energies. Citizens’ power plants mark the beginning of the dawn of a solar energy future for Vienna, and show the city’s clear commitment to developing solar energy. Setting up your own ecological energy supply system is not always an option, particularly in a big city where 80 per cent of the population lives in rented flats. As part of the development of various renewable energy sources, using solar energy is essential for climate protection and constitutes a key step towards phasing out the inflationary use of fossil fuels. The city of Vienna strongly supports photovoltaic energy production, which started its boom in Vienna throughout the last few years. On May 4, 2012 the first citizen solar power plant opened on the site of the Donaustadt power plant in the north of Vienna. Within the last four years 24 Citizens’ Solar Power Plants with 26,000 panels were constructed, which generate a total of approximately 6.8 MWp. The energy is fed into the Vienna power grid and provides solar power for approximately 3,000 local households.
