Rooftop Systems Drive Germany’s Record Solar Installations

Despite not being in a very sunny part of the world, Germans are installing solar on rooftops in record numbers. First, take a look at the ANNUAL SUNSHINE WORLD map.



Germany is not one of the best areas for solar. Most of the United States has more sunshine. Germany should serve as an inspiration to Americans!

The German numbers have been astounding in recent years.

https://www.power-technology.com/ne...ms-drive-germanys-record-solar-installations/

Germany installed a record 14GW of solar energy capacity in 2023 through more than a million new solar power systems, many of which were residential rooftop installations. This represents an 85% year-on-year increase in capacity, according to industry interest group the German Solar Association (BSW).

The increase in Germany’s capacity was driven by residential demand, as rooftop solar power systems saw a boom. The BSW reported that 159,000 PV systems went into operation in the first quarter of 2023 alone, over double the number in the same period in 2022.

Germany's 14 GW of solar capacity is a huge number. Despite having almost 4x the population and better sun conditions, the United States only installed 6.5GW of capacity in 2023, less than half of the Germany total. Despite this, the United States has done well when compared with many other countries. Germany has simply overperformed!

US Numbers link:
https://www.seia.org/research-resources/solar-market-insight-report-q4-2023

 

People mostly make decisions like this based on economics. If the electric rates in my state were quadrupled to match Germany’s rates, you would see a lot more solar arrays on and around houses.

 

Rooftop solar in Germany seems like an article in The Onion. We lived in Berlin for three years. I described it as "London without all the sunshine."
Going back to WW2, Germans had a phrase for clear, sunny skies that translates as "bomber weather."

 

There is a lot of politics regarding rates and renewables in the US. Utilities fight net-metering. When I first got renewables in 2011, the Fixed Fee for electric service was $9.99 per month. In successive raises since that time --- $19.99, $29.99, $34.99, and just recently $39.99. Usage fees have stayed at about 11 cents per KWH. This makes it harder and harder for folks considering renewables to achieve a Return on Investment (ROI). Wholesale rate/Retail rate manipulations, can easily make ROI twice as long. Utilities blow smoke up the A** of Utility Board commissions, telling them that they are suffering because of renewables, when it is just the opposite. Utilities have near ZERO voltage loss when neighbors use their surplus. Voltage loss can account for over 10% of Utility inefficiency. Even more importantly, solar is a peak load producer which shifts the summer peak from around 5-6 pm to 7-8 pm on summer days. Almost universally, the usage is lower from 7-8 pm, so this prevents Utilities from having to build additional power plants, which holds down rate costs for all customers. But the politics have been prevalent since Netmetering began, and mandates were instituted.

 

Yes. When profit is involved you can expect companies to wring profits from any generation source they can.

What do you get paid for power you contribute to the grid? We have split rates.

Summer:
For the period June 1 through September 30, the purchase rate for NEG shall be as follows:
Wind generation: 4.69¢ per kilowatt-hour
Photo-voltaic generation: 8.27¢ per kilowatt-hour
Baseload generation (e.g., methane fueled): 4.35¢ per kilowatt-hour

Winter:
For the period October 1 through May 31, the purchase rate for NEG shall be as follows:
Wind generation: 4.20¢ per kilowatt-hour
Photo-voltaic generation: 5.28¢ per kilowatt-hour
Baseload generation (e.g., methane fueled): 4.55¢ per kilowatt-hour


I can see Colorado has pretty low rates overall. So payback would be far more difficult/longer than Germany as well. If your rate was $0.40/kWh your payback would look very different as well.

A German with disposable income and property would see solar as a much better pure financial investment than people in our states.

 

We are one of a few states that still pays the retail rate for renewable surplus. With my Utility, I pay 11 cents flat rate, regardless of time of day, and we are reimbursed at 11 cents. But as mentioned, the Utilities use sneaky methods to get around this. Again, other than the solar advocate organizations, nobody ever mentions the pluses of solar PVs on everybody else's bills. Utilities avoid the topic, because it would make it more public, which might make Board commissions scrutinize it more closely.

 

Full retail is nice.

All the power in my state is owned/controlled by the customs so we see less shenanigans. There is a big emphasis on reinvesting into infrastructure so I believe that’s why we don’t reimburse full retail. There has to be a margin to cover costs of creating the most reliable grid in the country.

Not sure what part of the state you are in, but on average Colorado gets more sunny days than where I live. That’s a nice advantage when looking at solar. You have the elevation advantage as well.

 

maybe it's just me but when I look at that graph I see a strong inverse correlation between sonar intensity and population density. I wonder why that is.

 

Too expensive to begin with and too many people have issues for me to consider it. It seems like a company comes along, moves as many as they can, and then as soon as warranty claims start piling up, they evaporate into bankruptcy; rinse and repeat.

 

There are two problems with the wholesale rate programs. First is the fact that one gets paid a lot less for excess power. But that's not the worst feature. Renewable customers also have to settle accounts every month. What this means is that you cannot carry over summer excesses into winter months. So in essence they pay you for your power when they need it most, in the summer, at the wholesale rate. And then in the winter months you have to pay the retail rate because you have no surplus. With this discrepancy It can take 20 years to pay back a system.

 

Solar PVs are extremely reliable. There are systems out there 25 years old, still producing at 99% of original capacity. Most things in life break down, but solar PVs are not one of them.

 

Ok but that pretty much ignored what I posted. Perhaps you could find the time and see why the industry is expected to start shrinking in 2024 due to the "too expensive" part of my post down there after the part of the article about all of the solar company bankruptcies which were the other part of my post. https://time.com/6565415/rooftop-solar-industry-collapse/

 

Your post seemed to talk about reliability - maybe that was about the companies, and not the hardware? Why are there problems? I think it is related to the talent pool. The most important employee of a solar company is a very qualified electrician or 2 or 3. It's very easy for an electrician to quit and find another job. That leaves the solar installer in dire straights. My advice is to get a recommendation from a friend or neighbor who has solar panels. I wouldn't lease. Upfront costs are actually lower than when I purchased my system in 2011, and the Federal tax credit is the same. Bigger is better in my opinion. For example, you might pay $20K for a 4- or 5 KW system. For another $5K, you might be able to get a 10KW system. These are just hypothetical numbers, but maybe in the ballpark. Ask for a quote. You can meet the installer, and you might be pleasantly surprised. Ask how many electricians they have on staff.

 

Also, most of these companies have websites with photos of their installations. Some have been around a lot longer than others. They should have an extensive job history, as shown by the photos.

 

Map has to be wrong most of Aus is only “green”. Must have measured the sunshine levels whilst stnding under a tree up on Cape York .

 

Rethought it

 

Yeah, my wife and I visited Australia in the '90s, and it seemed like the populated East was sunny every day we were there. We had a great visit!

 

Glad you liked it - come back any time. We is a friendly bunch we is

 

I relooked at the map. Most of the yellow areas are almost desert-like. It seems that Sydney and Brisbane had a lot of natural vegetation. But I agree that it seemed sunnier than the Eastern US, the Mideast and the Midwest, which are the same color.

 

I saw a video today of some solar panels on fire. It was a particularly vicious and vile nasty looking fire. The smoke was beyond black and I can only imagine what sort of toxins that was releasing

 

More of the dark side of solar. Birds literally igniting in the air. That doesn't seem very eco-friendly to me.

 

Hmmm - burning plastic is never pleasant. I have solar panels. I'm trying to figure out how they would ever catch on fire. I guess if I poured gasoline on it, and ignited it, which is probably what some Koch Brothers representative did to create your video.

 

Actually if you do a little bit of research on it and go and look up videos you can find plenty of videos of them burning down houses and firefighters saying that they represent a very real threat during a house fire. Maybe the Koch brothers are up on the rooftop with the Illuminati catching them on fire for our entertainment?

You really don't think something that gathers and harnesses heat and electricity could catch fire?

 

Off topic. This thread is about rooftop solar. That's a Utility-level solar concentration system.

 

oh okay. Back on topic then. The homeowner is quoted as saying they were great until they caught the roof on fire