Generating electricity from sunlight is still in vogue. According to the International Economic Forum for Regenerative Energies (IWR), around 593,000 new solar systems with a total output of a good 7,900 megawatts were connected to the grid in the first seven months of the year.
The capacity installed in Germany in 2023 is already after seven months above the capacity of 7460 megawatts put into operation for the whole of 2022.
Most of the new output was installed in Bavaria from January to the end of July, at around 1980 megawatts. North Rhine-Westphalia (1340 megawatts), Baden-Württemberg (1050 megawatts), Lower Saxony (740 megawatts) and Brandenburg (610 megawatts) follow.
The IWR relies on data from the Federal Network Agency. The seven-month figures are subject to change because the one-month reporting period for new installations has not yet expired.
Homeowners create boom
The IWR reported that the number of electricity-producing solar systems in Germany had risen to a total of around 3.3 million by the end of July. The installed solar capacity is currently almost 75,500 megawatts.
“The high solar growth clearly shows that the energy turnaround in Germany has reached the people and has become a participatory project,” explained IWR boss Norbert Allnoch. The federal government’s new solar park will further accelerate this trend.
According to the German Solar Industry Association, the increase in photovoltaics in the first half of the year was particularly strong among homeowners. The newly installed PV capacity in homes increased by 135 percent in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year. The association also expects strong PV demand in the second half of the year. “For the first time, more than ten gigawatts of PV capacity should be newly installed in 2023,” the association said on request.
