Germany added about 14GW of solar capacity in 2023, with the residential segment accounting for nearly half of the new additions.
The German Solar Industry Association (BSW) said Germany’s solar additions last year had increased by around 85% year-on-year, as German developers added around 7.5GW of solar capacity in 2022. Around half (7GW) of the newly installed solar power capacity in 2023 was from the residential segment, increasing by 135% year-on-year.
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Ground-level solar parks accounted for 31% (around 4.3GW) of the newly installed solar power capacity, increasing by 40% year-on-year. BSW said demand for this market segment will continue to grow this year, as “market barriers to access suitable site sites are dismantled and access to the electricity grid is also facilitated”.
Developers also added around 2.5GW of commercial rooftop solar capacity, up by 75% year-on-year.
BSW managing director Carsten Körnig said that further measures to speed up the process are needed to upgrade the grids more quickly. More storage capacities will also be required to support the increasing share of solar capacity.
Additionally, BSW said more than 1.5 million private property owners are planning to install a solar system on their rooftops.
Last year, Germany had more than one million new solar installations, increasing the number of installed solar PV systems to 3.7 million with an electricity production capacity of 62 billion kWh, covering 12% of Germany’s electricity consumption.
Throughout 2023, Germany added solar PV capacity across the country and in a number of industries. For example, an auction for solar installations on buildings and noise barriers awarded contracts to 88 bids with a cumulative capacity of 191MW in November 2023.
Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK) also launched a request for expressions of interest to boost the country’s solar PV manufacturing supply chain last year. The target was to build up 10GW of solar PV manufacturing across the value chain – from silicon to modules – per year, with an annual capacity of at least 2GW for modules alone.