Guide
Make your own electricity: tap into the sun with a balcony solar panel
by Martin Jungfer
Ikea enters the balcony power station business
3.7.2025
Translation: machine translated
Co-author: Martin Jungfer
The Swedish furniture giant is entering the balcony power plant business in Germany. The Swedish furniture retailer is primarily targeting tenants with its solar systems.
Ikea does not manufacture the solar modules itself. The ready-to-plug-in solutions come from Svea Solar and are optionally supplemented by storage solutions from the manufacturer Ecoflow, which we also sell. Ikea does not act as a seller here, so you don't have to walk through the showroom maze and then load the panels onto the trolley in the warehouse. Ikea is merely an intermediary and promoter of Svea Solar's products. Incidentally, Ikea has already had a partnership with Helion in Switzerland for some time. Here, however, permanently installed PV systems are offered for homes.
In terms of price, the German Ikea offer starts with the «complete set S», consisting of two solar modules with 450 watts of power each and an 800-watt inverter. Ikea is asking just under 450 euros for this. This is comparatively cheap and reflects the fact that prices for solar modules have recently fallen sharply thanks to Chinese overproduction.
A storage unit is included from size M
The medium «complete set M» for at least 1229 euros already offers a storage system with a capacity of 1.92 kWh. This is enough for two washing machines. The module output in this set can be increased to 520 watts per panel for an additional charge, meaning that a total output of over 1000 watts is possible.
In Switzerland, such systems would not be permitted. Here, only systems that do not exceed an output of 600 watts may be connected without a licence. You can find more information on the legal framework in Switzerland in this article.
With a storage system, the electricity generated does not have to be consumed immediately. The electricity ends up in the integrated batteries and then supplies connected consumers via a standard socket. At home, my office equipment, consisting of two monitors, a router and my Mac Mini, is connected.
In a practical test, the offer is convincing
In a first test by «Computer Bild», the system was convincing. The editorial team particularly praised the decentralised battery principle, the high performance and the comprehensive app control. Another plus point: the Ecoflow storage system has 2300 watt sockets, so it can also cope with appliances with a greater appetite for electricity, such as coffee machines. At the same time, the inverter continues to feed only the legally permitted power into the electricity grid in Germany.
By the way, no one has to worry about the connected devices suddenly being left without power if the sun doesn't shine sufficiently for a longer period of time. This is because the system then switches to mains power.
Easy introduction to solar energy
If you want to delve deeper into the topic of solar energy and balcony power plants, you will probably find more favourable prices for solar modules. Ikea is aimed at people who do not want to assemble components themselves and also want to take care of the right cables and settings. «Especially for tenants without access to their own roof space, we now offer an easy way to get started with solar energy», explains Walter Kadnar, CEO of IKEA German, in the nicest marketing German.
In principle, the solar power offer is like an Ikea kitchen. Few components and easy to put into operation, probably even without an Allen key. Although ... I did swear a few times with my Ikea kitchen.
People with the right expertise or more complex installation situations, such as two or more locations for the solar modules, will justifiably criticise the Ikea solution. There are more efficient modules elsewhere - including here in the shop - and certainly more suitable storage solutions for one situation or another.
With us you will find many solar systems for your personal energy transition: Balcony power plants, solar power for the campsite or pure island solutions.
We have expanded the article and added the legal aspects for installing such systems in Switzerland, among other things. Thank you for the comments that criticised this.
Header image: Ikea Germany
Hamburg local, bookworm, and ice hockey fan. Dad and granddad. Constantly tinkering around with my smart home setup. I love DIY, the outdoors, fashion, and cosmetics.
Home + Kitchen
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