German PV expansion stable in March as solar power generation stays high
Clean Energy Wire / pv magazine
Solar PV expansion remained stable in Germany in March despite impacts of the coronavirus, with 368 megawatts of capacity installed, reports pv magazine. This was a little more than in February and slightly less than in January. In April, solar power generation reached its second highest level ever with nearly seven billion kilowatt hours (kWh) produced in a month, show preliminary numbers from utilities association BDEW and the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Wuerttemberg (ZSW). This is only surpassed by the month of June in 2019, when 7.1 billion kWh were produced. In April last year, solar generation only amounted to 5.6 billion kWh, while in the sunny month of July it reached 6.3 billion kWh.
Germany currently has a cap in place limiting government support for new solar PV installations to a total of 52 gigawatts (GW), a limit that could be reached this summer, according to the industry. In November 2019, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that the cap would be removed, but the government has so far failed to deliver on implementation. The country's solar industry has said the cap poses a greater threat than the current coronavirus crisis.
