The German government has the goal of generating 80 percent of Germany's electricity from renewable energies and making half of heat generation climate-neutral by 2030. This requires the expansion of renewable energies and a reduction in energy consumption. Private households can make an important contribution by installing photovoltaic systems or switching to green electricity and renewable heat. However, rebound effects can cause energy consumption to increase due to the use of renewable energies. The research project “Rebound-Effekte durch den Umstieg auf Erneuerbare Energien? – EE-Rebound” is investigating these effects and how they can be counteracted. A PV system can be associated with a significant increase in consumption, which makes it more difficult to achieve climate protection goals. Estimates of the research project show that an average additional consumption of 20 percent among PV prosumers could increase the electricity demand by about two percent in 2030. Overall, even higher additional energy consumption is to be expected, because rebound effects have also been identified when switching to a green electricity provider or when using renewable energies for heating. In order to achieve the climate protection goals, it is therefore necessary to minimize the rebound effects and reduce energy consumption overall.

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