Germany

The Munich-based company will receive up to €2 million for a large-scale storage facility in southern Germany. The system will consist of 52 lithium-ion car batteries –which are also used in the BMW i3 – and will be coupled with a wind farm.

It is the second decline in a row. Germany’s TSOs base their calculations on the 6 GW expansion for solar and wind expected for the coming year. The surplus on the EEG account, which was included in the calculations, was €3.65 billion.

Marking a historic moment in the German renewable energy sector, no public incentive was paid in August for PV installations up to 10 MW and selected under the country’s tender mechanism. This was due to the fact that market prices were higher than the price including the feed-in premium tariff, awarded in the tender.

From January to September 2018, solar PV systems generated 36.8 TWh in Germany, which is 13% more than they did in the first nine months of the previous year.

In the first eight months of 2018, newly installed PV capacity in Germany totaled almost 2 GW, and is already well above the previous year’s level. New residential and commercial PV systems, with a combined capacity of nearly 241 MW, have been reported to the Federal Network Agency. In October, solar incentives will drop by another 1%.

Starting from October, the Swedish furniture provider will start a test phase at five of its branches in Germany. A nationwide online sale of the “Solstrale” offer is planned to begin next February.

The Munich-based chemical group believes that the Chinese Ministry of Commerce may make a decision at the end of October. Wacker’s U.S. plant is still in the start-up phase following a temporary shutdown due to an explosion.

Photovoltaic manufacturers across the world are currently investing mainly in thin-film production plants. The German PV equipment providers benefit greatly from this new trend.

Around 40 billion kWh of clean electricity will be generated by PV systems in Germany during the first nine months of the year. According to calculations by the German Solar Industry Association, the total generation figure from last year will soon be reached.

The EU-funded research project has presented its first results. Its goal is to examine different regulatory frameworks for prosumers with photovoltaic systems in eight European countries.