German Solar Association Calls For Removal Of Pending Subsidy Cap

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The German solar PV association has this week called on the German Federal Government to abolish the country’s solar subsidy cap which is fast-approaching and expected to be hit sometime next year.

The German Federal Government currently has a 52 gigawatt (GW) cap on offering a Feed-in Tariff (FiT) for solar energy under its PV Act of 2013 (which came into effect retroactively from 1 April 2012), introduced in an effort to cut high electricity bills. Even with the introduction of the FiT — which itself was a cut to existing solar support mechanisms — and a 52 GW cap, Germany’s solar capacity skyrocketed, growing from 10 GW in 2009 to nearly 46 GW at the end of 2018.

However, according to the German solar PV association BSW Solar, not only has Germany now installed around 47 GW but the country should reach the 52 GW mark by sometime in 2020.

Thus, BSW Solar is asking the German Federal Government to remove the cap or risk halting necessary solar growth. “It would not be possible for people to use solar energy to slow down one of the most important and cheapest climate protection technologies,” explains Carsten Körnig, Managing Director of BSW Solar.

According to BSW Solar, the country’s solar capacity must now be allowed to expand and assume its role as a mainstay of the country’s future energy mix, and that all investment barriers must be eliminated.

BSW Solar also highlighted the fact that scrapping the solar subsidy cap is overwhelmingly approved of by the German public, pointing to recent polls of “leading umbrella and federal associations from the fields of small and medium-sized businesses, trade, energy, and real estate, as well as tenants, consumers, and environmental protection.” “We are confident that citizens’ will and climate protection are now taken seriously and that the right course is set,” said Körnig.

Publishing their call for action on Wednesday, BSW Solar asked members of the German Parliament to act before the parliamentary summer break, noting the failure to properly update current legislation.


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Joshua S Hill

I'm a Christian, a nerd, a geek, and I believe that we're pretty quickly directing planet-Earth into hell in a handbasket! I also write for Fantasy Book Review (.co.uk), and can be found writing articles for a variety of other sites. Check me out at about.me for more.

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