The coalition government has reached agreement on the FIT reduction for rooftop PV not exceeding 750 kW in size. According to a draft bill, seen by pv magazine, the FIT will be reduced to €0.0987/kWh from February, with further cuts in March and April, which would take it down to €0.0890/kWh.

The Hamburg-based green electricity provider wants to shut down RWE’s coal power plants and replace them with 8.2 GW of wind and solar systems. Approximately €7 billion would be invested in the new facilities, which would be built without any public support. Key to the initiative will be citizen participation.

In the recently released World Energy Outlook, the International Energy Agency (IEA) foresees a steady decline in the global expansion of PV to 2035. In response, Dutch researcher Auke Hoekstra has updated his graphic, IEA versus reality in solar PV.

The German Federal Network Agency has selected 36 solar PV power projects with a combined capacity of 201 MW in the mixed energy auction, which ended with a final average price of €0.0527/kWh.

In March of this year, two unknown men in Haan, Germany, dropped acid on Innogy board member Bernhard Günter. In September, the prosecutor announced the investigation was closed. Innogy, however, hopes to find new clues through the reward.

Around 34.5 GW of PV was installed in China in the first three quarters – 1.5 GW more than expected by IHS analysts, who have raised their full-year guidance.

The Federal Ministry of Economics has published further details of possible battery cell production on a gigawatt scale. At the Networking Conference Electromobility 2018 in Berlin this week, Minister Peter Altmaier stressed the urgency of the project, for Germany and Europe to be independent of Asia and the US in storage technology.

The German PV equipment provider saw sales increase by a third in the first three quarters of 2018. Full year 2018 guidance remains unchanged.

In the first nine months of 2018, the energy division of the Germany-based group recorded a loss of over €10 million. By the end of the year, earnings are expected to enter positive territory, however,

In addition to solar subsidy cutbacks of around 20%, planned for the start of 2019, the German Federal Ministry of Economics’ draft Energy Sources Act includes special tenders for PV and onshore wind. While many say the cuts cause great uncertainty for large-scale project developers, politician Peter Altmaier sees it differently: the energy transition is becoming safer and more affordable, he says. The decision to adopt or change the act now lies with the Federal Parliament.