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Germany Photovoltaic business - status and prospects Christoph Hünnekes, Projektträger Jülich (PTJ), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH |
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The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is an ongoing task, which is considered
by all environmental policies in Germany. An enhanced utilization of renewable
energies is the key to a sustainable energy system. The new Federal Government
constituted at the end of 2005 explicitly confirmed the national targets for renewable
energies: Their share of the production of electricity will be increased from
today's 10 % to 12,5 % by 2010 and 20 % by 2020. Renewable energies will contribute
to the gross energy consumption with a share of 4,2 % by 2010 and 10 % by 2010.
Photovoltaic (PV) adds to this development. Currently, only 1 % of the renewable power generated in Germany comes from PV. But PV shows by far the highest growth rate of all renewable energies: The first half of 2005 showed a doubling of the electricity generated by PV compared to 2004. Therefore, one can expected an increasing importance of PV in the near future. Additionally, PV has become a real business with noticeable employment and turnover.
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Today, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear
Safety (BMU) has the responsibility for the renewable energies within the German
Federal Government. In 2005 Research and Development (R&D) was conducted under
the 4th Programme on Energy Research and Energy Technology. From 2006 on, this
programme will be substituted by the new 5th programme edition called “Innovation
and New Energy Technologies,” which was published in July 2005 [1]. Main parts
of this programme will be administrated by the Project Management Organization
PtJ in Jülich.
In addition to this programme, there are other sources for the support of PV R&D: The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) conducts a programme aiming for the support of renewable energies related networks. Moreover, the funding of renewable energies at national institutes is partly covered by their institutional funding provided by the Federal Government and the Federal States. Finally, some of the Federal States carry out their own R&D programmes.
From January 1999 until end of 2003, the “100 000 Rooftops Solar Electricity Programme” provided soft loans for approximately 65 700 grid connected PV systems with a capacity of 345.5 MW in total. It is now substituted by a soft loan programme called “Solarstrom Erzeugen - Solar Power Generation” [2].
In addition to the soft loan programmes the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) is guaranteeing favourable feed in tariffs for renewable energies. The EEG is the main driving force for the PV market in Germany.
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In order to provide these targets with concrete goals, a R&D roadmap was developed during the 9 th BMU R&D strategy meeting in November 2005 (Table 1 - PV R&D Roadmap). This roadmap developed by representatives from industry and research institutes puts emphasis on a stable decrease of the costs of electricity from PV. It demands the need for an efficient consumption of raw materials, especially of silicon, as well as higher efficiencies in general, long-term stability of all system components and innovative production technologies.
The PV R&D concept and roadmap are designed to support the German PV industry to reach, maintain and extend their leadership in all relevant disciplines. To achieve this goal, key projects in the areas silicon wafer technology, thin-film concepts and system technologies are funded. In 2005, federal support for R&D projects on PV amounted to about 42 MEUR, shared by 120 projects in total. The distribution of the budget shows that the focal point is on wafer based silicon technologies (60 % of the budget). But innovative concepts like thin-film technologies (33 %) and the development of system technology (7 %) are funded, as well (See Fig. 2).
Crystalline silicon is still the most important material for manufacturing solar cells. In 2005 extra funds were available for the realization of the PV Technology Evaluation Centre (PV-TEC). PV-TEC deals with the development of new silicon solar cell concepts and is designed to facilitate the transition from laboratory to production.
While the BMU supports the initial set up of PV-TEC, the operation of the centre will be financed by cooperative R&D projects of industry and research groups. Other research projects deal with efficient silicon ingot production and innovative rear contact cells.
While thin-film technologies have the potential for a cost-effective large area production, their market share is still low. Now, the R&D efforts on CIS technology bear their first fruit as Würth Solar announced the setup of a 15 MW pilot production line in 2006.
The basis of this development was laid out in the 1980s which proves that reliable long-term support is of great importance.
Beside CIS technology, the development of crystalline Silicon thin-films and amorphous Silicon is supported.
PV System Technology: With an increasing number of grid-connected PV systems their integration into the electricity networks is of growing interest. The latest developments address high quality three phase inverters as well as inverters which provide added value by improving the local grid quality.
The "Electricity Feed Law" introduced in 1991 was replaced by the “Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG)” in April 2000. The EEG rules the input and favourable payment of electricity from renewable energies by the utilities. In 2004 the EEG was amended and the feed-in tariffs were adjusted mainly according to changes in supporting market introduction programmes. For systems built in 2005 a basic tariff of 0.513 EUR per kWh applies (2004: 0.54 EUR/kWh and 2003: 0.46 EUR/kWh). On top of this, there are bonuses for small systems and building integration. The rates are guaranteed for an operation period of 20 years. For the coming years, there will be further decreases in tariffs by 5 % annually for new installed systems.
At the end of 2003, the “100 000 Rooftops Solar Electricity Programme” terminated. With a total granted capacity of 345.5 MW and 65 700 systems built, this soft loan programme was a real success. Meanwhile, the support of PV systems by soft loans is maintained by other programmes of the KfW Promotional Bank; from 2005 on for example, by the new programme “Solar Power Generation” [2]. Under this programme, 16 000 loans for a total volume of 500 MEUR were granted until now.
Other programmes like the “Sun at School” as part of a federal marked introduction programme, programmes of the Federal States (Länder) and the Federal German Environmental Foundation (DBU) are designed for a local or an application specific support of PV.
Moreover, a number of utilities have launched initiatives to build PV-demonstration and pilot systems or to provide advice and information.
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![Fig. 3 - Production of German PV companies in 2004, 2005 and forecast for 2006 (based on [5]).](images/deu_03.gif)
Based on the EEG, the German PV-Industry and the German market experienced a period
of strong growth over the last years. Working in the globally most dynamic market
the range of companies dealing with PV is expanding along the whole value chain.
During the last years, equipment and production companies became the most experienced
ones worldwide and are heading for new markets.
But it is also clear that currently the growth is limited by a global silicon supply shortage. It is estimated that this shortage will continue until 2008. The production figures [3] given below are based on an analysis of the PV magazine “Photon” 3:
In conclusion, the German PV industry is not only a fast growing industry but is also offering innovative products along the whole value chain. More and more companies are entering into the business; thus, making PV a real opportunity for employment and business in general.
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The programmes described above have accelerated the installation of PV-systems
in Germany significantly. The capacity installed during 2004 is still under discussion.
In a recent communication from BSW (Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft), the association
of solar companies in Germany, indicated that 500 MW in 2004 could be on the lower
boundary of estimates. A first estimate for 2005 results in an additional installed
capacity of around 600 MW (Fig. 4). Thus, in mid 2005, the first Gigawatt of grid-connected
PV was reached in Germany and today around 1,5 GW PV feed electricity into the
public grid.
In addition to the market of grid connected systems, there is a stable request for stand alone systems. First estimates indicate that in 2005 slightly less than 3 MW were installed.
However, it is not only the installed capacity which counts. The association of solar companies in Germany (BSW) estimates that meanwhile around 3 500 companies with 20 000 employees are active in the PV business. The turnover in 2004 amounted to 1,76 billion EUR and is still growing.
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