The government of Hungary has adopted a package of proposals to make it easier to install solar panels on apartment buildings.

The provisions, agreed upon in December, allow for the formation of energy communities in condominium apartment buildings.

Two or more apartment owners in the same block can now form condominium energy communities in Hungary with written agreement from at least two owners. Once approved by a condominium, a community can jointly install rooftop solar systems.

The Hungarian government said that energy community members will share the benefits and costs of operating small-scale solar plants and may receive proportional refunds on system usage fees.

Hungary has backed rooftop solar adoption through its Napenergia Plusz Program, which offers grants for residential solar and storage installations. The government launched the program in January 2024 with a HUF 75.8 billion ($204.8 million) budget, later increasing it by HUF 30 billion in July.

By October, officials projected the initiative would drive the installation of more than 300,000 household solar systems nationwide.

The government will close applications for the subsidy program on Jan. 15.

It has also ruled that from July 1, 2025, only solar plants equipped with grid-connected inverters will be permitted. This provision, also agreed upon in December, will provide more data on rooftop solar production and help balance demand and supply, a statement from the government says.

Owners of solar power systems already in operation at the beginning of July will have to provide production data from July. Those with connection requests already submitted by then will have to provide production data from the time of commissioning.

An exception in the amendment has been made for projects that do not already have internet connections or grid-connected inverters. Such projects will only have to provide the unique identification numbers of their inverters.

The number of household-sized solar plants in Hungary has more than doubled since the beginning of 2022, according to Hungary’s Ministry of Energy.

Hungary aims to increase the share of renewable energy in its energy mix from 14% at present to 25% by 2030. The country installed 1.3 GW of solar in the first 10 months of 2024.