Latest figures published this week by the German Federal Network Agency have revealed that the country added just 1.89 GW of new solar PV capacity in 2014.
This performance was lower than many analysts had originally forecast, with IHS predicting a figure of around 2.1 GW for the year. Last years subdued performance pales starkly when compared to 2013, when the Germany added 3.14 GW of solar PV, and especially 2012 that year, some 7.27 GW of solar PV capacity was added.
In both 2010 and 2011, Germany installed more than 7 GW each year, and while the country still boasts at 38.23 GW the highest cumulative solar PV capacity in the world, it is likely to cede that crown to China in the coming months, particularly now the Chinese government has confirmed it is to target an additional 15 GW of capacity in 2015.
In contrast, Germany is likely to be on course to install around 2.5 GW of PV this year, according to IHS projections. The government recently approved pilot tenders for ground-mounted PV plants, due to begin in April. The move is intended to help Germany continue its transition towards renewable energy, and to make solar capacity expansion targets more manageable and cost-efficient.
Germany ended 2014 with 107.6 MW of new PV in December, building upon the 105.9 MW added in November. Both months were considerably down on the same period in 2013, when December registered new capacity of 166 MW. Aside from July last year when nearly 350 MW of PV was added 2013 outperformed 2014 in terms of MW installed every single month.
In December 2014, 3,951 new PV systems were registered, of which 37 MW was installed in plants greater in size than 1 MW.
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