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Very Strong Solar Growth in Germany in H1/2018

Germany targets 2.5 GW of annual PV capacity additions, which it failed to reach for several years. Going by the installed capacity in the first six month, the country looks set to achieve its annual target this year.

Anu Bhambhani
  • Germany's Federal Network Agency says June 2018 saw the country add more than 342 MW of new PV capacity
  • For the country, this is the highest PV addition in a single month since December 2016
  • The number includes 158.8 MW of ground mounted solar systems
  • Feed-in-tariff for rooftops solar installations is set to gradually come down starting August 2018

Germany had another good month in June 2018 when new solar installations reached the highest value in any month since December 2016. New PV capacity added by one of Europe's leading solar markets in June reached 342.5 MW. This comprises 158.8 MW of ground-mounted systems, according to the country's Federal Network Agency.

The June numbers are a strong improvement over last month when 216.4 MW was installed. Initially, the agency reported May 2018 additions to be 194 MW (see Germany Adds 194 MW In May 2018).

This means during the first six months of 2018, new PV additions in the country were over 1,300 MW. In 2017, the first six months registered only a little more than 900 MW (see Germany Added 206 MW PV In June 2017).

After the feed-in-tariffs (FiT) were stable for several months now due to little growth, the last 6 months together have reached the threshold that triggers a payment reduction for new systems. For new PV installations FiTs will gradually come down by 1% as of August 2018.

The new FiTs are at the following levels:

  • Installations up to 10 kW will receive a FiT of €0.1208 ($0.14) per kWh,
  • up to 40 kW system will get €0.1174 ($0.14),
  • and up to 100 kW will be eligible for €0.1050 ($0.12) per kWh.

FiT levels will further go down also by 1% in September and October.

Cumulative PV capacity of Germany at the end of June 2018 was 44.3 GW. It includes 33.7 GW installed since 2010, and 10.5 GW commissioned prior to 2010.