Hardly any property managers have experience with tenant electricity (Mieterstrom)
Solar power from the building's own roof straight into the apartments: since Germany's Solarpaket I legislation, getting there has become much easier. Our analysis shows, however, that the property management side is not there yet.
A condominium owners' association (WEG) considering a photovoltaic system quickly runs into the question of who will actually see the project through. Obtaining quotes, preparing the resolution, coordinating contractors, later keeping billing and responsibilities on track: that is work spanning years, and as a rule it lands with the property management company.
What our analysis shows
We analyzed which services the property management companies in our directory list on their own websites. On energy topics, the result is unambiguous:
- On-site tenant electricity (Mieterstrom) is mentioned by hardly any company, fewer than one in a hundred.
- Photovoltaics as a service is mentioned by roughly one in seventy.
- E-mobility and wallboxes at least by about one in forty.
For context: we evaluate what a company itself states publicly. A firm that has the expertise but does not put it on its website does not show up in this figure. The gap between tenant electricity and the other energy topics, however, is so pronounced that the direction is clear: tenant electricity has not yet arrived across the industry.
Why this becomes a practical issue for your WEG
Lawmakers have lowered the hurdles. Shared building electricity supply under Section 42b of Germany's Energy Industry Act (EnWG), introduced with the Solarpaket I, has made it possible since May 2024 to distribute solar power within the building without anyone becoming an electricity supplier with all the obligations that entails. For a system on the shared roof, a simple majority is sufficient; it counts as a structural alteration under Section 20 of the German Condominium Act (Wohnungseigentumsgesetz).
The legal side is therefore manageable. The bottleneck lies elsewhere: in the experience of those who are supposed to carry the project operationally. A property manager that has never drafted a resolution proposal for an energy project will not be able to guide your association through one.
How to recognize a suitable property manager
If photovoltaics, tenant electricity or wallboxes are on your association's agenda, it pays to get specific in the selection interview:
- Have you supported such a project before, and in what role?
- Who prepared the resolution proposal there, you or an external service provider?
- Which providers do you work with?
- How do you bill the electricity afterwards, and with which software?
Anyone who answers these questions specifically rather than in generalities has done it before. How the three models work in detail and what belongs in the resolution is explained in our guide on tenant electricity and photovoltaics in apartment buildings. If you are thinking about energy on a larger scale, you will find the right order of measures in our guide on energy-efficient renovation.
The good news
Precisely because the topic is rare, it is a useful way to tell companies apart. A property manager that actively supports energy projects also says something about how it works in general: it thinks in projects rather than in administrative routines. And you do not have to phone your way through the entire industry to find one, you can simply ask for it directly.
Basis: our own analysis of the information published on the websites of the property management companies in our directory, as of May 2026.
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