Greentech Lead Europe: A new solar incentive program is gaining popularity in Germany after the government announced in May this year that they would support installation of photovoltaic storage systems by contributing up to 30 percent of the storage system costs.
The program, and its implications for the industry, will be explained further at the forthcoming Intersolar Europe exhibition in Munich on June 19.
Under the program, the PV-customer would benefit from storing up their low-cost PV power for additional private consumption after daylight hours.
Intense competition in solar industry and a potential crisis of over-supply among producers are forcing the industry to improvise at at many levels to keep it stable and develop new growth opportunities.
In Germany, a new incentive program is gaining attention in the market, after the government announced in May this year that they would support installation of photovoltaic storage systems by contributing up to 30 percent of the storage system costs.
PV grid parity has been reached in countries other than Germany in recent years, so the international market opportunities of PV-storage solutions is growing rapidly. A McKinsey study indicates that by 2020, PV installations for private consumption could reach more than 350 GWp and constitute more than half of the globally-installed capacity.
“This is a pioneering program designed to help quickly ascend the industry’s steep learning curve,” said Tobias Rothacher, senior manager of Renewable Energies at Germany Trade and Invest.
“This government initiative is giving the German photovoltaic market a new perspective on how to grow even beyond the direct private consumption potential of about 100 GWp,” Rothacher added. “Should decentralized storage systems become mainstream, the German PV market could potentially aim for more than 400 GWp of installed PV capacity.”