Balkan Solar Roofs

There is still a widespread belief in the Western Balkans that communities and citizens are only final energy consumers. This leads to a very low interest in community energy from both municipal decision makers and citizens. While previous efforts have partly managed to change this attitude in small municipalities, larger cities, such as the ones targeted by the project, still lack political and societal support for community energy concepts.

Man installs photovoltaic system on a roof; Photo © Elena Elisseva

The project’s target group consisted of the city administrations of three large cities: Kragujevac (Serbia), Poreč (Croatia), and Mostar (BiH). Several activities aimed at enabling these cities to foster participative urban solar power and heat. First, the three city groups – multi-disciplinary groups of municipal employees – took part in an e-collaboration lab where they learned about the different forms and benefits of urban solar community energy. Furthermore, they determined which persons and institutions they needed to be involved in for successful promotion of solar community energy concepts. On this basis, they developed a local community energy roadmap. This map was meant to guide the municipality, community energy groups, small and medium enterprises, and citizens through the necessary actions for developing and installing new community solar projects over the next two years. In a subsequent communication workshop, group members learned how to efficiently communicate benefits of urban solar community energy. 

Additionally, the project team and the cities rolled out a campaign to mobilise citizens and SMEs for the production of community-owned energy. This included posters and wide outreach in social and other media starting at city level in Kragujevac, Mostar, and Poreč. Lastly, the project team ensured that experiences would be shared beyond pilot city borders by engaging cities to follow the example and reaching out to policymakers to make sure national frameworks were supportive of citizen energy. 

• Regional visibility and engagement: The project has demonstrated that photovoltaics can be implemented successfully in Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Six videos highlighted the local benefits of this climate-friendly energy source, and 45 municipalities signed the Solar Charter; 20 of them published posters about the online tool for solar roofs.
• Institutionalisation and sustainability in Croatia: With the opening of the Poreč Sunny office in 2023, the first permanent advice centre of its kind was established in Croatia. Citizens can obtain individual advice on solar energy systems here. The centre also hosts information days and a regional round table. Since the project ended, the office has been permanently operating with funding from the municipal budget and EU co-financing.
• Emissions reduction in Bosnia and Herzegovina: In Mostar, 37 kW solar systems were installed at a primary school and two preschools. They generate approximately 46,000 kWh per year and reduce CO₂ emissions by around 45 tonnes annually.