Germany

One component is the greatly simplified commissioning of balcony solar power plants with 800 to 1 000 W power each. Currently, around 730 000 of them are already in operation. This high number shows that PV has reached the centre of society and enjoys a high level of social acceptance.

By 2035, the German electricity supply should be almost climate-neutral, i.e. nearly completely powered by renewable energies and green hydrogen. The German government has therefore decided to increase the share of renewable energies in Germany’s (gross) electricity consumption to over 80% in 2030. To this end, the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) provides for 215 gigawatts of installed photovoltaic (PV) capacity in 2030. This means that the annual expansion of photovoltaics needs to increase up to 22 GW within just a few years. With a further increase in newly installed PV systems, the total installed capacity has already reached the 100 GW mark by the end of 2024 (see Fig. 1).

So, Germany is well on the way to achieving its solar goals. This is also reflected in the consistently high participation in the Federal Network Agency’s tendering rounds for ground-mounted PV systems. The tender volumes of 2 GW each in July and December were oversubscribed twice, and the average award values determined were again only 5.05 eurocent/kWh and 4.75 eurocent/kWh, respectively. The total tender volume in 2024 was 7.3 GW for ground-mounted and rooftop systems together.

This strong expansion is sensible and necessary, as photovoltaics is one of the cheapest sources of energy and therefore one of the most important sources of electricity generation in the future.

The funding announcement for the most recent 8th Energy Research Programme for applied energy research, entitled ‘Research Contracts for the Energy Transition,’ has been in force since April 2024. It sets out the objectives and priorities for research funding in the coming years.

For the first time, the BMWK is pursuing a mission-oriented research and innovation policy. The focus is on cross-sector and cross-thematic project funding that is targeted at specific and ambitious goals. In this way, research results should contribute to accelerating the transformation of the energy system and be put into practice quickly.

The five missions of the BMWK’s energy research programme are:

• Mission Energy System 2045: Research for a resilient and efficient energy system
• Mission Heat Transition 2045: Research for a climate-neutral heating and cooling supply
• Mission Electricity Transition 2045: Research for the conversion of the electricity supply to renewable energies
• Hydrogen Mission 2030: Research for a sustainable hydrogen economy
• Mission Transfer: Rapid transfer of research results into practice

PV is an important part of the Mission Electricity Transition. The main focal points for photovoltaics research in 2024 were again topics relating to technology developments for highly efficient solar cells and modules, silicon-perovskite tandem solar cells, and issues of reliability and sustainable operation of photovoltaic systems. A secondary topic deals with the integration of PV systems in both the built environment and the energy system.

The impressive number of installed balcony solar power plants in Germany testifies to high social acceptance of the technology.

By the beginning of 2024, the number of employees in the photovoltaic sector had risen to over 100 000. This increase of 35% compared to 2022 is primarily due to additional employees in the operation and maintenance of PV systems.

Nevertheless, the market environment is extremely challenging for German photovoltaic manufacturers, particularly due to low prices for modules and other components, especially from Asia. To meet this hurdle, the BMWK has initiated a recently published feasibility study on the reconstruction of an integrated PV industry in Germany and Europe. The study, called Libertas, aims to determine how the entire ecosystem of manufacturing, mechanical engineering, supply chain, research institutes, and qualified personnel could be fully (re-)established in the shortest possible time. In addition to competitive and innovative products, sustainable, CO2-neutral production is taken into account. Some key elements of the Libertas findings will soon be addressed by targeted research activities.