Taxes that create real assets.

The structure becomes worthwhile from an annual taxable income of roughly €120,000–150,000 — at that level you are reliably in the top tax bracket (45 %+), so the IAB and Sonder-AfA can fully unfold their effect. The equity actually required is significantly lower than the nominal investment volume: a substantial part is carried by the early tax refunds from the IAB. Typical project investments start at around €100,000 in volume.

Real estate has long been the default tax shelter for German private investors — but the math has shifted. Denkmal-AfA and Sonder-AfA on Neubau are volume-capped and supply-constrained, residential yields in attractive locations have compressed below 3 %, and the operating burden (tenancy law, maintenance, regulatory exposure) keeps growing. A PV or BESS direct investment delivers a comparable real-asset profile with materially stronger tax levers in the early years — IAB plus Sonder-AfA easily exceed 70 % of the investment amount in deductions — alongside a clearly bounded technical risk profile and revenues tied to a structurally growing market (Energiewende, electrification of mobility and heat). Most of our clients arrive having already built a real-estate position and view Helios as the natural next allocation.

You can deduct up to 50 % of the planned investment amount from taxable profits in the three years before purchase. In the year of acquisition, Sonder-AfA (§7g (5) EStG, up to 40 % cumulative over 5 years) and straight-line or declining-balance AfA (§7 (1) or (2) EStG) are added on top.

Returns depend on project site, revenue model, financing structure and your individual tax situation. In every initial conversation we walk through the sensitivity calculation for the specific project across three scenarios (best / mid / worst). Because these are entrepreneurial investments, we do not make return promises.

Three structural levers. First, you own a real asset — the physical PV or storage installation — whose replacement cost rises with inflation. Second, revenue is tied to electricity prices: PPAs are typically index-linked, and the merchant portion participates directly in market price movements. Third, project debt is usually fixed-rate over 10–20 years, so inflation erodes the real debt burden while revenues adjust upward. The combination has historically made energy infrastructure one of the more reliable inflation hedges among real-asset classes.

No — and that is a key difference. We remain your point of contact across the entire holding period and beyond. This includes quarterly reporting, account management, technical and tax service. The goal is for your capital to work — without stress for you.

You participate directly in the real asset — not in a fund wrapper. That means: no fund management layers between you and the asset, full tax levers as an entrepreneurial investor, and immediate impact of project performance on your position.

Every project we broker comes with a measurable impact profile: annual MWh produced or stored, tons of CO₂ avoided versus the German grid mix, and the household equivalent the asset powers or stabilizes. A mid-sized rooftop PV project of around €500,000 typically avoids 150–200 t CO₂ per year over a 20-year lifetime — roughly 3,500 tons cumulative, the lifetime emissions of dozens of households. You receive this data in your quarterly reporting alongside the financial figures, so the impact is auditable, not aspirational.

The initial conversation is free of charge. For the brokerage we charge a commission on the purchase price; for ongoing support of your investment we charge a service and asset-management fee. All terms are disclosed transparently before signing.

Direct investments are entrepreneurial holdings with risk of total loss. The relevant risks are in particular: power-price and market risk, technical risk (availability), financing risk and regulatory risk. We address these structurally — through co-located structures, established direct marketers, insurance and standard contracts — but we cannot eliminate them.

From the first conversation to signing typically takes 6–10 weeks. To make use of the IAB in the current tax year, we work to a compressed timeline on request.