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New Solar Installations in Germany Grow To 5.26 GW In 2021

Germany’s December 2021 Solar Installations Contributed 421 MW To Reach 5.26 GW Full Year Deployment

Anu Bhambhani
  • In 2021, Germany installed 5.26 GW new solar PV capacity, having grown from 4.88 GW in the previous year
  • It includes over 421 MW added in the month of December 2021, after 407.5 MW came online in November 2021
  • As the government eyes 20 GW annual additions in the near future, German solar numbers can be expected to dramatically go up

Germany exited 2021 with its annual solar PV capacity having reached 5.26 GW, an improvement of around 8% over 2020 when it added 4.88 GW, according to the country's Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur).

SolarPower Europe's EU Market Outlook published in mid Dec. 2021 had assumed exactly that number – that 5.3 GW will be installed in Germany in 2021 (see EU Installs Record 25.9 GW Solar In 2021). A month later, in January 2021, German solar association BSW Solar also predicted 5.3 GW solar to have been installed by the country last year with the help of around 240,000 new systems (see Germany: 410 MW Solar In November 2021).

The numbers for 2021 comprise 421.1 MW the agency registered in December 2021, that increased from 407.5 MW (after adjustments by the agency) installed in the previous month. In comparison, 525 MW came online in December 2020.

Germany's solar future is looking bright as the new coalition government aims to have the country increase deployment to 20 GW annually later this decade to achieve a cumulative of 200 GW target for solar by 2030 (see Germany Pushing Renewables For Climate Targets).