Photovoltaic solar energy, spearheading Germany’s renewable energy policy: an example to others
| Autor: | W. Palz |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2012 |
| Předmět: |
Consumption (economics)
Cost price Renewable Energy Sustainability and the Environment business.industry Industrial production Photovoltaic system TJ807-830 Environmental economics Condensed Matter Physics Grid parity Agricultural economics Renewable energy sources Electronic Optical and Magnetic Materials Photovoltaics Economics Electricity Electrical and Electronic Engineering business Solar power |
| Zdroj: | EPJ Photovoltaics, Vol 3, p 30901 (2012) |
| ISSN: | 2105-0716 |
| Popis: | Since the end of 2011, the PV installations in Germany have reached a capacity of 25 GW or 25 000 MW. For comparison: Italy now has 12 GW and France has 2.5 GW. Thus, despite the modest amount of sunshine it receives, Germany is bolstering its world record in this new industrial sector. German individuals and communities (rather than conventional electric companies) have been swept up in a major trend and have massively invested in more than one million individual PV systems. Despite the non-negligible importing of PV modules from China, 120 000 jobs were created in Germany in PV-related industrial production, small industry, and services. With its 25 GW, PV already accounts for a significant proportion of the total equipment required to supply electricity to the whole of Germany, whose requirements at peak hours are 80 GW. Because the availability of solar power generation is more limited than conventional sources of electricity, the energy contribution of PV did not exceed 20 TWh over the entire year 2011. Compare this to the total net electricity consumption for the whole of Germany, which was 500 TWh in 2011. The average contribution of PV to electrical consumption is therefore close to 5%. In certain regions, such as Bavaria, with its more abundant solar resources, the contribution already exceeds 10%. Now, in January 2012, the cost of PV in Germany has reached ‘grid parity’ for the first time. At 25 cents per kWh, the latest PV price drop, which has just come into force, brings PV down to the cost price of electricity for private individuals who are network subscribers. This is also true in Italy, but not in France, where the price for EdF subscribers is much lower. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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