Germany's Solar Sector Skyward - 3000MW of Photovoltaic installed in 2009

Posted on 08 Jan 2010

Joachim Berner talks to Matthew Wright and Scott Bilby about the state of Renewables in Germany, Germany currently gets 16% of it's power from renewables. The biggest source is wind power. However Solar PV is going through an absolute boom. With a huge wholesale price reduction in Photovoltaic systems 3000MW was installed in 2009, and it is expected that Germany will install 4000-5000MW in 2010. The use of feed-in-tariff's to get Solar down the cost reduction curve has been proven and in a reasonable number of years we should see Solar PV at competitive costs with grid electricity. (see podcast below)

Joachim Berner is a renewable energy expert and journalist for Germany’s sun, wind and energy magazine.

3000 MW of photo-voltaics (PVs) were installed in solar parks and on rooftops in Germany in 2009.

Germany has a long history in PVs which began in the 1990s thanks to changes in renewable energy laws which provided the impetus for an expansion in this industry. Last year there was an overproduction which saw the price of PVs reduce and sales increase.

China is now importing PVs to Germany to satisfy demand. Germany remains the technological leader nevertheless and new companies are developing in Germany so that the need for Chinese imports will reduce.

Joachim stated that PVs are not only attractive for those with environmental concerns but were economically viable in their own right.

Subsidy cuts had assisted this technology but were arguably now no longer necessary. Tariffs were going down approximately 10% per year and it is argued that the industry is supported too much. The industry itself agrees to a gradual cut and such is under discussion.

The solar industry has always argued that with subsidies to begin with, to drive development, they will eventually be able to compete in their own right. Germany’s experience is evidence that this view is vindicated. With the rapid decrease in price and enough volume, sales and industry support, solar panels are selling in their own right.

Joachim stated that PVs are a successful industry now. There is interest from all sides of politics to support the industry and keep it in the country.

The expectation is that the PV industry will grow 10-20% this year so there is likely to be more than 3000MW of PVs installed in 2010!

(In Australia we have a peak electricity situation in summer at which time power swings up to 4-5000 MW. If we had the quantity of solar panels Germany has, we would not be concerned with these power spikes (and Germany does not have anything like Australia’s sunshine).

Solar power not only provides electricity in Germany it has provided 50,000 jobs in the solar industry, so is good for the economy. (Australian coal industry employs 30,000 people).

Regarding solar hot water, Joachim stated that PVs were being considered by many as preferable for heating water domestically.

Questioned whether there was sufficient room on people’s rooves for more panels (!), Joachim believed there was plenty of space but some might have difficulty fitting in a solar connector.

In a discussion about a market for combination of PV and heat into one panel (as is being developed by the Australian industry Chromasun* in partnership with ANU) ie. hot water and electricity from the one panel, Joachim stated that in his experience the combination did not get the temperatures required for hot water and is less efficient in electricity production. (The situation in Australia might be different, however, and Australian research seems to be overcoming these issues, before roof space runs out! And in time, anyway, old panels will need replacing with more efficient ones).

The feed-in tariff in Germany is linked to the year of PV installation and whether people could upgrade their panels and continue to get the tariff was a question Joachim thought interesting but could not answer!

Although Germany boasts a number of almost fully autonomous “passive houses”, they are not the norm and there is not a good system of policing quality standards in the country, Joachim said. Nevertheless, new buildings are required to have a minimum 10% renewables for heating and hot water so they need a solar collector or a heating pond etc to meet this goal.

The heat pump sector is quite strong in Germany compared to other renewables. An increasing number of solar thermal companies are offering combined services of heating pumps and solar connectors – this is a developing industry. People can therefore easily buy a totally renewable heating system.

The European Union’s goal for Germany is 12.5% energy from renewables in 2010.
It is already 16% renewables broken up as follows (approx):
Wind                6%
Biomass           4-5%
Hydro              4-5%
PVs                  1%

European initiatives include discussion on building standards regarding heating which Joachim is not optimistic about. He believes what really helps is the growing prices for conventional electricity and petrol and thinking about alternatives.

* http://chromasun.com/