Macroeconomic effects of prosumer-households in Germany

Following the expansion of renewable energy in Germany, an increasing number of private households is producing heat and electricity for themselves. Prosumer-households consume at least a small part of their own generated energy. In a way, prosuming stands for the beginning of a new energy world: in the future, millions of households can produce their own energy. Conventional utilities are losing market share. This Discussion Paper provides an overview of the economic and energy effects of prosumer-households in Germany. Therefore, the macroeconomic top-down model PANTA RHEI has been extended by prosumer-households and was used in various scenario calculations. This work was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in Germany.