SOLAR UP – Designing the energy transition through solar activism
Nikolaus Hößle

In 2030, Germany is in the midst of the energy transition. Renewable energies from wind power and photovoltaics now provide about half of energy production, but the last coal-fired power plant will run for at least another 8 years. The 1.5 degree target of the Paris Climate Agreement will be missed, despite government regulations such as the abolition of the 1000 m distance regulation and the solar roof obligation. At the same time, the latter leads to an accumulation of solar waste of over one million tonnes per year. As recycling companies are slow to adjust to these volumes, solar scrap is a readily available resource everywhere. Protests for faster and more flexible energy policies are becoming more vehement in society. Networked communities are forming in cities, designing new forms of protest and engaging in solar vandalism. For example, a group of Activists under the name Solar Up is making a tape out of solar breakage, with which they are taking the energy transition into their own hands in their own way.