l'Actualité du Solaire

There is a convergence between the decisions of the German government, which wants to turn the page on gas, coal and nuclear power in favour of renewable energies, and a population that has suffered from high electricity prices and wants to reduce the burden of its energy bill.

This convergence has led to a large number of decisions to reduce the cost of photovoltaics on the one hand, and a public opinion that supports the national objective on the other, not just out of patriotism, but out of a personal interest in reducing the energy bill. The result was a series of political decisions along these lines, a research and development policy exemplified by Fraunhofer, and strong domestic demand combining panels and storage, the use of heat pumps and so on.

This combination, which will reduce the cost of energy and cut greenhouse gas emissions, will give Germany a central role in the European Union by boosting the photovoltaic industry. Germany's weight will do the rest, as a driving force in the European economy. The result will be the emergence of a central political player in the Union.

Summary

The government has set itself the goal of rapid development of renewable energies, particularly photovoltaics, with installed capacity set to triple between the end of 2022 and 2030. It has adopted a series of measures to encourage people to install panels, batteries and heat pumps.

It has launched studies, research and laboratories to improve the existing system and adapt it to diffuse installations.

The population, which has long suffered from high electricity tariffs, has seen these tariffs triple or quadruple by 2022 as a result of the energy crisis. They are ready to adopt solutions to stabilise or reduce their energy bills.

As a result, a mechanism has been put in place that reduces the cost of electricity, improves industrial competitiveness and increases the distribution of German products. To avoid losing too much in the form of imports of photovoltaic products, Germany needs to relaunch its solar industry, which will probably happen in the second half of the year.

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The text

The announcement of 2.6 GW of PV installations in the first quarter alone focuses attention on Germany, the various government measures, and the attitude of households.

The government

The government has set itself a target of 215 GW installed by 2030 (compared with 66 GW at the end of 2022 and 70 GW at the end of March), with the aim of tripling installations in eight years. To achieve this, it needs to increase the number of GW installed from 7.9 GW in 2022 to 22 GW annually from 2026, and then stabilise installations at this level until 2030.

Various measures were taken at the end of 2022-beginning of 2023. These include, in no particular order, the adoption of the emergency procedures proposed by the European Commission, which make it possible to define zones where environmental impact and species protection are waived. The possibility for owners of old parks to modernise them by replacing old panels with new ones. This procedure could increase current installations by half, from 66 GW at the end of 2022 to around 100 GW. The measure will make it possible to increase the density of surfaces, increase the power of plants and produce more. An increase in the feed-in tariff for rooftop solar and wind power to stimulate installation. The abolition of VAT for installations of less than 30 kW. Tax exemption for operators of small-scale photovoltaic systems.

RWE has gone even further, offering all local authorities a bonus of €0.02 per kWh produced on their territory. This should encourage local councils to accept power plants in exchange for income.

As the German PV industry is short of manpower, the government has signed an agreement with India to bring in workers to install the plants.

Nothing is said about adapting the grid to the new installations, but we can be sure that measures have been taken to facilitate connections to the grid.

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Research and development

At the same time, measures for the future are being adopted: the research institutes are prolific. Not only are the various Fraunhofer branches publishing numerous articles, but many research institutes are also contributing solutions or thoughts on how photovoltaics can be integrated into everyday life. The Hesse research institute, for example, has sought to understand how renewable energies produced by households or power stations can be integrated into the grid. It has come to the conclusion that grid stability will require the use of new management tools; that it is necessary to automate theIt concluded that grid stability would require the use of new management tools; that frequency balancing needed to be automated with a management capacity greater than that of human beings, using artificial intelligence!

Similarly, in response to the European Commission's failure to take a decision on the industrial relaunch of photovoltaics, the government appointed three organisations (which immediately offered to collaborate with other bodies) to examine the issue, find producers for the various components, identify the gaps and seek a solution. In less than three months, a progress report or proposals will be submitted to InterSolar in mid-June. There will certainly be an overall movement to encourage the recreation of a high-performance industry. Accompanying industrial measures will certainly be taken to encourage the development of PV manufacturers.

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The German population is stirred by a fundamental trend.

Subjected to historically high electricity tariffs, which were multiplied by three or four in 2022 during the energy crisis, households have decided en masse to install solar panels and storage devices. The increase in installations between 2021 and 2022 is 52%! Two-thirds of solar installations are equipped with storage. 200,000 storage devices were sold last year. The public is convinced that this equipment will stop and above all reduce electricity bills. Some studies indicate that PV energy combined with heat pumps can save 62% on energy bills. This information is spurring people to install solar panels.

This week, in view of the success of solar panels on balconies, TÜV felt obliged to issue a reminder about good practice in this area. Similarly, this week, two companies (Stiebel and Bosch) decided to invest in the production of heat pumps.

Households are therefore being encouraged to install them, and are responding favourably.

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So :

As a result, photovoltaics are becoming established in Germany. The country will benefit from the lower cost of a kilowatt-hour of solar energy compared with gas or oil (which accounted for 60% of the country's energy consumption in 2022). This will increase Germany's competitiveness and pave the way for it to regain its economic competitiveness both in the European Union, where Germany is the most populous country in the world, with 83 million inhabitants, and in the rest of the world, where German products are renowned for their exceptional quality.

At the same time, the revival of industrial competitiveness will create a dynamism that will spread across Europe in the form of attraction, influence and political power. If Europe is politically unformed, it will quickly find the industrial leader who will become the political power capable of organising it. The future is being prepared through photovoltaics!