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Solar panels law makes greens see red

go renovations, get new heating systems or have roof repairs.

    To give the regulation teeth, a fine of ?1,000 (785), awaitsthose who do not comply.

     Critics say the rule constitutes an attack on the rights ofproperty owners. The regional government in Giessen has stepped inand warned that it will overturn the rule.

     In response, city officials in Marburg say they will take theircase to administrative court, or all the way to the Hessian statecapital, where they will try to get the state building code changedto protect their ordinance from officials in Giessen.

     In the middle of this political chess match sit homeowners such asGoetz Schoenherr. From his balcony, Schoenherr can see the town'sfamous hilltop Gothic castle, as well as two of its threepower-generating wind turbines. On his roof, a  solar panel glintsin the sunlight. He uses it to heat his water, allowing him to turnoff his boiler for roughly six months of the year  a boon forhis wallet but a decision he said he made for the environment.

      And yet Schoenherr opposes the new law.

      Schoenherr had hoped to re-insulate his home, but to do so andsatisfy the solar regulation he would have had to install a largersolar panel. It would have cost him close to 4,000.

       "That leads, in my case, and I would think in other cases as well,to people saying: 'Well, let's just not reinsulate the roof,'"Schoenherr said. "So it's absolutely counterproductive."

       Officials in Giessen agree. "We have no problem with the use ofsolar energy," said spokesman Manfred Kersten, "but this was apoorly constructed ordinance."

       Germany is one of the world's champions of reducing greenhouse gasemissions and promoting renewable energy. Thanks to hefty federalsubsidies, the country is by far the largest market forphotovoltaic systems, which convert sunlight into electricity.

       Marburg, a historic university town where the Brothers Grimm oncestudied, is a model of enlightened energy production andconsumption. In addition to the wind turbines and solarinstallations, the town's utility company buys hydroelectric powerfrom Austria, is converting its fleet of buses and other vehiclesto natural gas, and even lights footpaths with solar-powered lamps.

       "Marburg is already a leader when it comes to the use of solarenergy, but up until now they've always tried to convince peoplerather than forcing them," said Hermann Uchtmann, the oppositionpolitician behind the "green dictatorship" charge. He is a chemistat the local university, who once built a solar-powereddesalinisation plant for the town's sister city of Sfax, Tunisia.

        "It's unfortunate that they decided to compel people, because Ithink you breed opponents that way rather than friends of solarenergy," Uchtmann said.

        But restricting the measure to new constructions would not gavegone far enough for the politicians behind it.

        "We have a serious energy problem with the older homes," Marburg'sdeputy mayor Franz Kahle said. To make a real leap forward, hesaid, a dramatic step was necessary.

        "Before, solar installations were the exception and their absencewas the rule," Kahle said. "We want to get to the point where theopposite is the case."