Solar Industry Invests 10 Billion Euros in Germany

The solar energy industry will invest nearly 10 billion euros in Germany over the next four years. This is the result of a photovoltaic industry survey conducted by EuPD Research on behalf of the Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft (BSW-Solar) [German Solar Industry Association]. Between 2010 and 2013, 10 billion euros will be spent in the expansion and modernisation of photovoltaic production facilities, with one billion euros going to research and development alone.

The solar industry will strengthen its competitiveness on the international market with investments in solar factories and distribution networks. Germany’s solar power industry will use this to place some 14 percent of its turnover in additional expansion and the augmentation of its innovative strength. To compare: The investment rate of the conventional German energy industry is, at approximately seven percent, only half as high. This year alone, despite the economic crisis, an investment volume of about 1.5 billion euros was realised by expansion projects within the German photovoltaic industry.

The leadership position of the German photovoltaic industry is not secured by cutting edge production and distribution systems alone, but also by advances in technology and know-how. This is why the industry will invest a billion euros in research and development by the year 2013, twice as much as in the last four years. Productivity will continue to be increased across all levels of the value chain, in order achieve the highest possible reduction in costs with a simultaneous increase in the already recognized top German quality. Some 50 research institutions in Germany are working to achieve this in more than 100 ongoing research and development projects.

The mutual goal is to make solar electricity competitive with conventional electricity within a few years. “Until then, stable political framework conditions remain necessary to secure the billions in planned investments, as do attractive incentives for consumers. This will provide this industry, characterised primarily by mid-sized companies, and the public with the required investment security for the production and installation of solar power plants,” says Carsten Körnig, managing director of BSW-Solar. For the consumers, the costs of environmentally friendly solar power from their own roof will fall below the tariff level of conventional electricity providers by 2015, at the latest, according to the estimations of the energy expert. Solar incentives from the German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) already make the installation of solar power plants attractive today. The demand in recent weeks has grown enormously thanks to significant price reductions.

Current industry data:

The German photovoltaic industry current employs around 54,000 people. More than 10,000 new jobs in manufacturing, commerce and trade were created in 2008 alone. The industrial turnover amounted to some 9.5 billion euros last year, growing by nearly 60 percent over 2007. The export rate is approximately 50 percent.