Solar Package 1: What Applies to Your Land in 2026

Solar Package 1 (Solarpaket 1) has been in force since 16 May 2024 and is the most extensive amendment to Germany's Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) for solar expansion to date. For you as a landowner it changes one thing above all: which land qualifies for a subsidised solar park, the so-called eligible-area map. Two years after it came into force, its effect can also be measured. The Federal Network Agency's tender in March 2026 was twice oversubscribed, and more than half of new photovoltaic capacity is now built on open land. This guide explains what Solar Package 1 actually regulated, what is often wrongly attributed to it, and what both mean for your land and your lease.

"Check in 10 seconds, no email, no call-back"

Key facts at a glance

• Since when: Solar Package I came into force on 16 May 2024 (BGBl. 2024 I No. 151); it is current law, not a planned reform.

• Disadvantaged areas open nationwide: arable and grassland in disadvantaged areas is eligible; a state may only restrict this once solar parks occupy more than 1 percent of its agricultural land (Section 37c(2) EEG).

• Larger projects eligible: the bid cap in the ground-mounted tender rose from 20 to 50 megawatts, and agrivoltaic, peatland, car-park and floating PV received their own segment.

• Cap for farmland: solar parks on agriculturally used land are limited to 80 gigawatts until 2030, then 177.5 gigawatts (Section 37(4) EEG), around 0.5 percent of agricultural land.

• Common misconception: the 500-metre corridor along motorways and railway lines has existed since the EEG 2023, not since the Solar Package.

• For your lease: the range stays at 3,000 to 5,000 euros per hectare per year. Whether your land benefits is something the free ENLAPA area check tells you in seconds.

What is Solar Package 1, and why does it concern you as an owner?

Solar Package I is an omnibus act with which the Bundestag implemented the federal government's photovoltaic strategy in April 2024. It was published in the Federal Law Gazette on 15 May 2024 and has been in force since the following day. It touches several areas at once: balcony solar, tenant electricity, shared building supply, rooftop systems and ground-mounted solar parks. As the owner of agricultural or other open land, only part of it is relevant to you: the rules in Section 37 EEG on which land falls into the eligible-area map, meaning which land can win an award in the Federal Network Agency's tender. That is exactly the difference between a plot a developer seriously examines and one they discard from the start.

The goal behind it is set out in Section 4 EEG: 215 gigawatts of photovoltaics are to be installed by 2030 and 400 gigawatts by 2040, with additions split roughly half on rooftops and half on open land. At the end of 2025, around 117 gigawatts were installed according to the Federal Network Agency (press release of 8 January 2026). Reaching the target would require an average of 19.6 gigawatts per year from now on, more than in any year so far. Solar Package 1 was meant to free up the land for that.

The three most important changes for landowners

1. Disadvantaged areas: open nationwide, state exclusion only above 1 percent

Disadvantaged areas are regions delimited under EU law with poorer natural conditions for farming, for example because of low soil quality or slopes. Before Solar Package 1, arable and grassland there was only eligible in the federal states that had explicitly opened it by state ordinance. Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and a few others did; many did not.

Since Solar Package 1 the relationship is reversed: bids on arable and grassland in disadvantaged areas are considered in all federal states (Section 37(1) no. 2 letters h and i EEG). A state may only exclude them wholly or partly by ordinance if and as long as ground-mounted systems are operated on more than 1 percent of its agriculturally used land; from 2031 this trigger threshold is 1.5 percent (Section 37c(2) EEG). States may additionally exempt landscape protection areas and nature parks. Natura 2000 sites, nature reserves, national parks, national natural monuments, legally protected biotopes and the core and buffer zones of biosphere reserves remain excluded as before.

How strongly this opening works is shown by the tender of 1 March 2026: 73 awards totalling 760 megawatts went to arable and grassland in disadvantaged areas, a third of all awarded capacity (Federal Network Agency, 12 May 2026).

2. Bid cap raised from 20 to 50 megawatts, and a separate segment for special solar installations

In the ground-mounted tender, a single bid was previously limited to 20 megawatts. Solar Package 1 raised this cap to 50 megawatts. For owners of larger contiguous plots, or for several neighbours offering their land jointly, this makes projects eligible that previously had to be split up or financed without EEG remuneration through power purchase agreements.

In addition, agrivoltaics, peatland PV on rewetted land, car-park PV and floating systems were moved into their own tender segment with a separate ceiling price as special solar installations (Section 37(1) no. 3 EEG), because their construction costs are higher. This segment reached a record 59 awards and 439 megawatts in March 2026. What agrivoltaics means for the lease is explained in the guide Agri-Photovoltaics: Agriculture and Energy; the drawbacks are covered in Agri-PV Disadvantages 2026.

3. The 80-gigawatt cap for agricultural land

As a counterweight to opening the disadvantaged areas, the legislator capped expansion on farmland. Under Section 37(4) EEG, bids for installations on agriculturally used land are no longer admissible once more than 80 gigawatts of such installations have been commissioned since 1 January 2023; after 31 December 2030 a limit of 177.5 gigawatts applies. The German Solar Association puts 80 gigawatts at about 0.5 percent of Germany's agricultural land.

For you as an owner this means two things. The cap is a long way off; it will not slow down any individual solar park in the coming years. But it makes visible that ground-mounted PV on farmland is politically intended and limited at the same time. Developers therefore secure good sites early, which tends to increase rather than reduce demand for land like yours over the next few years.

What is often wrongly attributed to the Solar Package

Two rules appear in many articles as Solar Package innovations but come from earlier legislation. This is more than a footnote, because the two have different legal consequences.

• The 500-metre corridor along motorways and railway lines for EEG support has applied since the EEG 2023, i.e. since 1 January 2023 (Section 37(1) no. 2 letter c EEG); before that it was 200 metres. This category is now the largest in the tender: in March 2026, 123 awards totalling 1,026 megawatts fell into it, almost half of the awarded capacity.
• The planning-law privilege under Section 35(1) no. 8 letter b of the Federal Building Code (BauGB) allows solar parks in the outer zone without a development plan only within a strip of 200 metres along motorways and railway lines with at least two tracks. It came with the 2023 BauGB amendment. Between 200 and 500 metres a plot is therefore eligible for support but, like any other open land, needs a municipal development plan.

For owners this is the most practically important point: EEG eligibility and planning law are two separate tests. A plot in a disadvantaged area has been eligible since Solar Package 1, but the road to a solar park still runs through a municipal resolution and a development plan. What that road looks like is described in the guide Ground-Mounted PV Approval 2026.

What Solar Package 1 has achieved: the 2026 figures

Two years after it came into force, the effect can be measured, and it is clear.

The reading for owners: developers submit twice as many projects as receive awards. Anyone with land in one of the three big categories, a corridor, a disadvantaged area or a plot suitable for agrivoltaics, owns exactly what the industry is competing for. The German Solar Association has, however, been warning since July 2026 of planned support cuts from 2027. If they come, they would depress willingness to pay per project rather than demand for land, because the expansion targets in Section 4 EEG remain in place.

Is my land eligible now?

Solar Package 1 expands the eligible-area map, but it does not replace the other tests. Three questions decide:

1. Does the plot fall into a category of the eligible-area map? A corridor up to 500 metres along motorways and railway lines, a disadvantaged area, a conversion site, drained peat soil, sealed land, or land with a legally binding development plan for solar. Only then is an EEG award possible.
2. Does an exclusion criterion apply? Natura 2000, nature reserves, national parks, protected biotopes, flood zones and, depending on the state, landscape protection areas or nature parks rule a plot out or complicate it considerably.
3. Does the grid connection work? Even the best eligible-area category does not help if the nearest substation has no free capacity. In 2026, grid connection is the real bottleneck at many sites.

The complete overview of exclusion, restriction and eligibility criteria, broken down by federal state, is in the guide Ground-Mounted PV Approval 2026. The fastest way to a first assessment is the ENLAPA area check: it checks protected areas, the eligible-area map and grid proximity in seconds, free of charge and without you leaving any personal data.

What does this mean for the lease in 2026?

The expanded eligible-area map makes more land eligible, but it does not automatically change what a plot earns in lease. For ground-mounted photovoltaics, 2026 lease prices typically range from 3,000 to 5,000 euros per hectare per year, up to roughly 5,500 euros at grid-close top sites. The deciding factors are irradiation, distance to the grid connection point, plot size and the number of developers competing locally. The current ranges by site quality and the six price drivers are in the guide Photovoltaic Lease Prices 2026.

Land in a disadvantaged area is often low-yielding for farming. For the lease this is no disadvantage: compared with the average arable-land lease of around 375 euros per hectare, a solar park earns 8 to 15 times as much, and the agricultural yield of the plot is irrelevant to the developer. If your land also sits very close to a substation, a battery storage system may be an option instead of, or alongside, a solar park, with a considerably higher lease. More in the guide Battery Storage Lease Prices 2026.

From Solar Package 1 to your own solar park: the process

Your land being eligible is the first step, not the last. Before it becomes a solar park, a project passes through several stages: securing the land through a lease agreement, a grid connection request to the grid operator, the municipal resolution and development plan, a bid in the tender, permitting and construction. From signing to commissioning typically takes two to four years, for which you should agree a reservation fee. The complete process with all six steps is explained in the guide Building a Solar Park 2026, the contract clauses in the guide Photovoltaic Lease Contract.

Checklist: does your land benefit from Solar Package 1?

• Is your land in a disadvantaged area? Then it has been eligible in every federal state since May 2024, provided no protected area stands in the way. The area map is available in your state's agricultural subsidy maps.
• Is your land within 500 metres of a motorway or a double-track railway line? Then it is eligible; within 200 metres even without a development plan.
• Is the plot 5 hectares or larger? Smaller plots are only interesting in exceptional cases or together with neighbouring land. For battery storage, 0.5 to 3 hectares is often enough.
• Is there a substation within reach? A few kilometres of cable route are common; more than ten quickly become uneconomic.
• No obvious exclusion criteria? Nature reserves, Natura 2000 habitat or bird protection areas and flood zones usually rule out use. The ENLAPA area check gives you a first indication.

If one of the first two points applies and the last three raise no concerns, a closer look is worthwhile.

Frequently asked questions

Conclusion

Solar Package 1 has noticeably expanded the eligible-area map for ground-mounted photovoltaics since May 2024: disadvantaged areas are eligible in every federal state, projects up to 50 megawatts can take part in the tender, and agrivoltaics has its own segment. The 2026 figures show that the industry is using this framework to the full; the tenders are twice oversubscribed. For you as an owner this means a plot that did not qualify before 2024 may qualify today. Check your land now for free with the ENLAPA area check or list your land to receive no-obligation offers from project developers. How to go about it is shown in the overview Lease Land for a Solar Park.

Sources: Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) Sections 4, 6, 37, 37c (gesetze-im-internet.de, as of August 2026); Federal Building Code Section 35; Federal Law Gazette 2024 I No. 151 of 15 May 2024; Federal Network Agency press releases of 8 January 2026 and 12 May 2026; German Solar Association (BSW-Solar) statements of 16 April 2024 and 14 July 2026. This article does not constitute legal advice.