German Solar Power Capacity Hits All-Time High… Again (More Solar than Rest of Europe)

September 24th, 2012 by Andrew





Here’s a quickie from sunny Germany, which in short order has become the world’s leading solar power market:

Initial reports say that Germans installed roughly 320-megawatts peak (MWp) of additional solar power capacity in August.

That takes total installed solar power capacity to more than 30-gigawatts peak (GWp), making Germany the first country in the world to generate so much electricity from sunshine.

There’s now more solar power installed in Germany than the rest of Europe combined, note industry watchers from Germany Trade & Invest, the national foreign trade and inward investment promotion agency. They’ll be sharing their insights on latest trends in the German and other solar power markets around the world at this week’s EUPVSEC in Frankfurt September 24-28.







“Positive market developments and ongoing changes in the industry underscore Germany’s position as the global frontrunner in solar power,” stated Tobias Rothacher, photovoltaic industry expert at Germany Trade & Invest in Berlin.

Solar power installations have continued to increase in Germany even as legislators have haggled over larger-than-expected reductions in Germany’s Feed-in Tariff (FiT), via which power consumers subsidize the cost of solar power installations.

Of course, solar power costs in Germany are much lower than elsewhere (i.e. the US), largely due economies of scale and its much lower soft costs there.

Germany Trade & Invest this month put out a new report on Germany’s solar photovoltaic (PV) market that’s free for download.









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