The Solar Association (BSW) announced on Tuesday that Germany’s solar market is set to experience another surge in growth in 2024, with newly installed photovoltaic capacity expected to increase by a double-digit percentage. This comes after a period of significant expansion in residential solar installations over the past five years.
However, BSW noted that companies are now shifting their focus towards commercial storage systems. Carsten Koernig, the managing director of BSW, highlighted that solar and storage technology is becoming increasingly standard, with commercial roofs and low-yield open spaces being electrified using solar technology. The industry association also predicts that demand will continue to be high beyond 2024, as a survey conducted by market research institute YouGov on behalf of BSW revealed that every second company and over 60 percent of private property owners in Germany are interested in investing in a solar power system.
In the first four months of this year, the Federal Network Agency has registered a newly commissioned solar power capacity of more than 5 gigawatts, an increase of around 35 percent year-on-year.
Germany aims to cover at least 80 percent of its gross electricity consumption with renewable energy by 2030 and to achieve climate neutrality by 2045, five years earlier than the European Union as a whole.
To achieve the energy transition, the government passed a solar-related package that came into force in mid-May. It reduces bureaucracy in the construction and operation of photovoltaic systems and is intended to further accelerate the expansion of solar energy.
The Europe’s largest economy generated 58.4 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources in the first quarter of 2024, according to preliminary results by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), marking the highest share ever recorded in a first quarter.