Solar power in Germany
Germany is one of the world's top photovoltaics (PV) installers, with a solar PV capacity as of 2010[update] of almost 17 gigawatts (GW).[1] In 2009, Germany had 9.8 GW which generated 6,578 gigawatt-hours (GW·h) of electricity — an average power of 710 MW.[2] Solar power now meets about 2 percent of Germany's electricity demand, a share that some market analysts expect could reach 25 percent by 2050.[3]
Government action
Financial incentives
Solar power in Germany has been growing considerably due to the country's feed-in tariff which was introduced by the German Renewable Energy Act. The FiT costs 1 billion euros per month to subsidize new solar installations and the cost is spread across all rate-payers.[4]
Targets
The German government has set a target of 66 GW of installed solar PV capacity by 2030.[5]
Photovoltaic power stations
PV Power station | Nominal Power[7] (MWp) |
Production (Annual GW·h) |
Capacity factor |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Finsterwalde Solar Park | 80.7 | Phase I completed 2009, phase II and III 2010 [8][9] | ||
Strasskirchen Solar Park | 54 | 57[6] | 0.12 | |
Lieberose Photovoltaic Park | 53 | 53[10] | 0.11 | 2009 [11][10] |
Kothen Solar Park | 45 | 2009 | ||
Waldpolenz Solar Park | 40[12] | 0.11 | 550,000 First Solar thin-film CdTe modules. Completed December 2008 [13][12] | |
Reckahn Solar Park | 36 | |||
Tutow Solar Park | 31 | Completed in 2010 | ||
Helmeringen Solar Park | 25.7 | Completed in 2010 | ||
Finow Solar Park | 24.5 | Completed in 2010 | ||
Pocking Solar Park | 22 | |||
Mengkofen Solar Park | 21.7 | |||
Rothenburg Solar Park | 20 |
DC Peak Power | Location | Description | MW·h/year | Capacity factor | Coordinates |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
12 MW | Arnstein | 1408 SOLON mover (see Erlasee Solar Park) |
14,000 MW·h | 0.13 | 50°0′10″N 9°55′15″E / 50.00278°N 9.92083°E |
8.4 MW | Gottelborn Solar Park | ||||
6.3 MW | Mühlhausen | 57,600 solar modules (see Bavaria Solarpark) |
6,750 MW·h | 0.12 | 49°09′29″N 11°25′59″E / 49.15806°N 11.43306°E |
6 MW | Rote Jahne Solar Park[15] | ||||
5 MW | Bürstadt | 30,000 BP Solar modules | 4,200 MW·h | 0.10 | 49°39′N 8°28′E / 49.650°N 8.467°E |
5 MW | Espenhain | 33,500 Shell Solar modules | 5,000 MW·h | 0.11 | 51°12′N 12°31′E / 51.200°N 12.517°E |
4 MW | Merseburg | 25,000 BP solar modules (see Geiseltalsee Solarpark) |
3,400 MW·h | 0.10 | 51°22′N 12°0′E / 51.367°N 12.000°E |
4 MW | Hemau | 32,740 solar modules | 3,900 MW·h | 0.11 | 49°3′N 11°47′E / 49.050°N 11.783°E |
3.3 MW | Dingolfing | Solara, Sharp and Kyocera solar modules | 3,050 MW·h | 0.11 | 48°38′N 12°30′E / 48.633°N 12.500°E |
1.9 MW | Guenching | Sharp solar modules (see Bavaria Solarpark) |
- | 49°16′N 11°34′E / 49.267°N 11.567°E | |
1.9 MW | Minihof | Sharp solar modules (see Bavaria Solarpark) |
- | n.a. |
Statistics
Total electrical capacity in Germany in 2008 was 139.28 GW, producing 594.69 TW·h.[16] Installed solar PV capacity in 2009 was 8.877 GW (~6.4%) and contribution of solar PV to electricity generation in 2009 was 6.2 TW·h (~1.1%).[2] [17] Increases in installed solar PV power capacity and generation in recent years is shown in the table below:[18]
Year | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Capacity (MW) | 76 | 186 | 296 | 435 | 1,105 | 2,056 | 2,899 | 4,170 | 5,979 | 9,785 | |
Generation (GW·h) | 64 | 76 | 162 | 313 | 556 | 1,282 | 2,220 | 3,075 | 4,420 | 6,578 | |
% of total electricity consumption | 0.7 | 1.1 |
Companies
Major German solar companies include:
See also
References
- ^ Wacket, Markus (February 24, 2011). "Germany to cut solar subsidies by up to 15 pct". Reuters. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
- ^ a b "Renewable Energy Sources in Figures" (PDF). Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. June, 2010 p. 13, 14. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
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(help) - ^ Another Sunny Year for Solar Power
- ^ Hopkins, Sam (2010-02-24). "Change Coming to German Solar Industry: The World's Solar Panel Leader is Transforming". Green Chip Stocks. Retrieved 2010-09-10.
- ^ Property Wire (2010-04-22). "Germany Reducing Incentives For Solar Property Investment". NuWire Investor. Retrieved 2010-09-10.
- ^ a b PV Resources.com (2009). World's largest photovoltaic power plants
- ^ Note that nominal power may be AC or DC, depending on the plant. See AC-DC conundrum: Latest PV power-plant ratings follies put focus on reporting inconsistency (update)
- ^ Good Energies, NIBC Infrastructure Partners acquire Finsterwalde II and Finsterwalde III
- ^ Implementation of the 39 MWp – „Solar Park Finsterwalde II and Finsterwalde III“
- ^ a b Lieberose solar farm becomes Germany's biggest, World's second-biggest
- ^ Germany Turns On World's Biggest Solar Power Project
- ^ a b Germany's largest Solar parks connected to the grid (19 Dec 08)
- ^ Large photovoltaic plant in Muldentalkreis
- ^ World's largest photovoltaic power plants
- ^ Construction Complete on 6 MW Thin-Film PV Installation in Germany Renewable Energy Access, 5 April 2007.
- ^ "Germany". Energy Information Administration (EIA), U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE). Retrieved 2011-03-03.
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(help) - ^ "BMU Brochure page". Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. June, 2010. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
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(help) - ^ "Time series: development as of 1990 (Zeitreihen: Entwicklung ab 1990, in German only)". Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. June, 2010. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
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External links
- Cloudy Germany a Powerhouse in Solar Energy, Washington Post, 2007
- Southern Germany develops its PV Capacities
- Cloudy Germany unlikely hotspot for solar power
- Germany's sunny revolution
- World's Biggest Solar Plant Goes Online in Germany
- Official site about solar power and renewable Energy in the Emscher-Lippe-Region (German)
- Frondel, Manuel (2009). "Economic Impacts from the Promotion of Renewable Energy Technologies — The German Experience" (PDF). Ruhr Economic Papers. RWI Essen. Retrieved 2010-11-26.
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