In the first ten minutes after Austria’s solar grant portal opened on Thursday, about 43,300 people drew a “ticket”, which is a place in the queue for public money. The figure comes from the Federal Ministry for Economy, Energy and Tourism in Vienna. It compares with 24,900 tickets in the first ten minutes of the second call this summer.
The third and last call of 2026 for rooftop solar and home batteries opened on Thursday afternoon. It is also the last under the current system. Applications can be filed until 22 October. The ministry said it had expected the interest after earlier rounds.
Under the Renewable Energy Expansion Act (EAG), grants are handled by the settlement agency OeMAG. For small systems, applicants are ranked by the time their ticket is drawn, so whoever draws first is funded first. Larger systems are ranked by the subsidy they request per kilowatt-peak.
The money is limited. The regular budget for this call is €8 million, topped up to €38.5 million. Energy State Secretary Elisabeth Zehetner of the conservative ÖVP said the extra funds are not new budget. They come mostly from earlier grant promises where projects were not built, or only partly built.
The ministry puts the previous round’s mismatch at almost 28,000 applications against funds for about 3,000 projects. In the first call of the year, 29,000 projects worth €135 million were submitted. The budgeted €40 million became about €70 million, and 12,500 applications were funded.
The ministry has already published outline plans for 2027, drawn up with electrical trade bodies and the industry association PV Austria. Applicants would file after completion with the final invoice, and could do so all year instead of in three windows. The classic investment grant would give way to a storage bonus, and an intelligent energy management system would be a condition for receiving it. Inverters in new systems are to be “Made in Europe”.
Much is unsettled. Grant levels, bonuses and technical criteria are still being drafted, and the legal change needs a two-thirds majority in parliament. For storage projects that miss out this year, the plan is that they can apply in 2027 if invoiced or commissioned from 1 November 2026. That remains a plan rather than a guaranteed entitlement, according to trade press. PV Austria has asked for details quickly so installers can advise customers.
Zehetner’s office said the rush confirms the need for reform. This summer’s second call saw its budget exhausted in just 33 seconds.
