Photovoltaic news and pv jobs

German FITs cut in 2012

The German Federal Network Agency ("Bundesnetzagentur" "BNA") has announced the new photovoltaic feed-in tariffs (FIT) for 2012. They will be cut by 15 percent from 2011 rates.

German FIT reductions should lead to weak Q1 demand. Image: flickr/jay.plemon.

In its release, the government agency has announced that cumulative capacity installed between October 2010 and September 2011 amounts to 5.2 gigawatts (GW). This level of installed capacity has triggered the 15 percent FIT reduction.

These figures also show that between the months July and September of this year, 1.6 GW of new photovoltaic capacity was installed, slightly below the 2010 capacity of 1.7 GW.

Industry analyst Goetz Fischbeck has responded to the cuts by saying that they are not beyond predicted levels. He added that should a surge of installations occur in the fourth quarter of 2011, then another tariff cut could be expected in July 2012.

In an earlier statement, anticipating the cuts, he wrote that investors could no longer expect the same level of return under the new FIT levels, as installed photovoltaic costs could not be reduced by 15 percent in this period.

As such, Fischbeck concludes, Q1 2012 could see low demand, making it more difficult for both manufacturers and wholesalers to clear their inventories.