Solar power in Germany

Solar power in Germany consists almost exclusively of photovoltaics (PV) and accounted for an estimated 6.2 to 6.9 percent of the country's net-electricity generation in 2014. The country has been amongst the world's top PV installer for several years, with total installed capacity amounting to 40,782 megawatts (MW) by the end of November 2016, behind 1. China and ahead of 3. Japan, 4. United States 5.Italy, and 6. UK .

About 1.5 million photovoltaic systems are installed all over the country, ranging from small rooftop systems, to medium commercial and large utility-scale solar parks, that altogether contributed 35.2 terawatt-hours (TWh), or about 6.9 percent in 2014 (preliminary estimate). This brings the country's share of renewable electricity to about 31 percent, and in line with the official governmental goal of reaching 35 percent by the end of the decade. However, new installations of PV systems have declined steadily since the record year of 2011 and continued to do so throughout 2015. It's estimated that about half of the country's jobs have been lost in the solar sector in recent years. While proponents from the PV industry blame the lack of governmental commitment, others point out the financial burden associated with the fast paced roll-out of photovoltaics, rendering the transition to renewable energies unsustainable in their view.

The official governmental goal is to continuously increase renewables' contribution to the country's overall electricity consumption. Long-term minimum targets are 35% by 2020, 50% by 2030 and 80% by 2050. The country is increasingly producing more electricity than it needs, driving down spot-market prices and exporting its surplus of electricity to its neighboring countries (record exported surplus of 32 TWh in 2013 and 34 TWh in 2014). Paradoxically, a decline in spot-prices may well raise the electricity prices for retail customers, as the spread of the guaranteed feed-in tariff and spot-price increases as well. As the combined share of fluctuating wind and solar is approaching 17 percent on the national electricity mix, other issues are becoming more pressing. These include, adapting the electrical grid, constructing new grid-storage capacity, dismantling and altering fossil and nuclear power plants – brown coal and nuclear power are the country's cheapest suppliers of electricity, according to today's calculations – and to construct a new generation of combined heat and power plants.

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