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

**Largest German photovoltaic power stations (20 MW or larger)**^[6]
PV Power station	Nominal Power^[7] (MW_p)	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

**Other notable photovoltaic (PV) power plants^[14]**
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 / 50.00278; 9.92083 (Erlasee Solar Park)
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 / 49.15806; 11.43306 (Bavaria Solarpark)
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 / 49.650; 8.467
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 / 51.200; 12.517
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 / 51.367; 12.000 (Geiseltalsee Solarpark)
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 / 49.050; 11.783
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 / 48.633; 12.500
1.9 MW	Guenching	Sharp solar modules (see Bavaria Solarpark)	-		49°16′N 11°34′E / 49.267°N 11.567°E / 49.267; 11.567 (Bavaria Solarpark)
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 9.785 GW (~6.4%) and contribution of solar PV to electricity generation in 2009 was 6.6 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
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:

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. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (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. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
^ "BMU Brochure page". Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. June, 2010. Retrieved 2011-03-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (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. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

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. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

Bold text

[reuters-2011-02-24-1] Wacket, Markus (February 24, 2011). "Germany to cut solar subsidies by up to 15 pct". Reuters. Retrieved 2011-03-03.

[BMU2010-2] "Renewable Energy Sources in Figures" (PDF). Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. June, 2010 p. 13, 14. Retrieved 2011-03-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[sol-3] Another Sunny Year for Solar Power

[4] 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.

[5] Property Wire (2010-04-22). "Germany Reducing Incentives For Solar Property Investment". NuWire Investor. Retrieved 2010-09-10.

[PV-6] PV Resources.com (2009). World's largest photovoltaic power plants

[7] 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)

[8] Good Energies, NIBC Infrastructure Partners acquire Finsterwalde II and Finsterwalde III

[9] Implementation of the 39 MWp – „Solar Park Finsterwalde II and Finsterwalde III“

[globalsolartechnology-10] Lieberose solar farm becomes Germany's biggest, World's second-biggest

[11] Germany Turns On World's Biggest Solar Power Project

[east-12] Germany's largest Solar parks connected to the grid (19 Dec 08)

[13] Large photovoltaic plant in Muldentalkreis

[14] World's largest photovoltaic power plants

[15] Construction Complete on 6 MW Thin-Film PV Installation in Germany Renewable Energy Access, 5 April 2007.

[16] "Germany". Energy Information Administration (EIA), U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE). Retrieved 2011-03-03. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)

[17] "BMU Brochure page". Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. June, 2010. Retrieved 2011-03-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[18] "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. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

v t e Solar energy in the European Union
European Renewable Energy Council
Solar power by country	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Italy Lithuania Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Spain Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom
Solar thermal power stations	Alvarado I (50 MW) Andasol (150 MW) Extresol (150 MW) Gemasolar (20 MW) PS10 (11 MW) PS20 (20 MW) Puerto Errado (31 MW) Puertollano (50 MW) Solnova (150 MW) Termosolar Borges (25 MW) Valle (100 MW)
Photovoltaic power stations	Alt Daber (68 MW) Brandenburg-Briest (91 MW) Crucey (60 MW) Eggebek (84 MW) Finow Tower (85 MW) Finsterwalde (81 MW) Gabardan (67 MW) Karadzhalovo (60 MW) Lieberose (71 MW) Montalto di Castro (84 MW) Neuhardenberg (145 MW) Olmedilla (60 MW) Perovo (100 MW) Rovigo (72 MW) Senftenberg/Schipkau (168 MW) Templin (128 MW) Toul-Rosières (115 MW)