City council says yes to solar power generation in konigsberg’s old town

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Only one item was on the agenda of the public meeting of the city council of the city of konigsberg on tuesday evening. It was about the change of the old town bylaws of the city with regard to the installation of photovoltaic systems in the old town.

The planned amendment of the building design statutes from 2010 with regard to a change and the approval of the erection of collectors for electricity generation on buildings in the protected old town had already been discussed several times in the city council. However, a final decision has not been made yet. The old city bylaws currently only permit the installation of solar thermal collectors for heating water and hot water under precisely defined conditions.

Old town planner and city architect jurgen bergmann from eichelsdorf gave a presentation to the council members on the changes and conditions of the old town bylaws under which photovoltaic systems can also be erected in the old town area. The conditions are as follows:

The planned location is not on a building registered in the list of historical monuments. The erection is made on the roof of an adjoining building or within a plot of land at ground level with stanchions. The facility is not visible from public traffic areas. If the system is installed on a roof surface, it must be integrated into the roof skin or mounted parallel to the roof surface. The erection of the parts of the plant is not allowed. The modules are to be selected with the highest possible efficiency, in line with the state of the art, in order to keep the required flatness as low as possible. It is to be examined whether an alternative location is not possible.

Only a small flat suitable

These requirements must all be met in each case. Deviations from these requirements must be requested and approved on a case-by-case basis in accordance with § 17 of the design statutes.

After a lengthy discussion in which, among other things, various possibilities of adapting the collectors to the roof tiles and also problems in the event of fire were addressed, it was also pointed out that ultimately the decision on the respective approval was a matter for the district office.

Before the new formulation of the preconditions for the erection of collectors by the consultant of the old town redevelopment, architect jurgen bergmann, was approved by the committee, mayor claus bittenbrunn () pointed out that in this case one should not prohibit everything modern from the outset, but should also go along with technical advances. Architect bergmann pointed out that in the old town of konigsberg only a small flat area is suitable for the erection of photovoltaic systems.