News Article
Intersolar News: Pioneering Solar Storage Program
Solar power continues to make headlines. Intense global competition and a potential crisis of over-supply among producers have seen the industry forced to improvise at many levels to keep it stable and develop new growth opportunities.
In Germany, a new incentive program is gaining attention in the market, after the government announced in May this year that they would support installation of PV storage systems by contributing up to 30% of the storage system costs. The program, and its implications for the industry, will be explained further at the Intersolar Europe exhibition in Munich (see Germany Trade & Invest).
Under the program, the PV-customer would benefit from storing up their low-cost PV power for additional private consumption after daylight hours.
PV grid parity has been reached in countries other than Germany in recent years, so the international market opportunities of PV-storage solutions is growing rapidly. A McKinsey study indicates that by 2020, PV installations for private consumption could reach more than 350 GWp and constitute more than half of the globally-installed capacity.
"This is a pioneering program designed to help quickly ascend the industry's steep learning curve," said Tobias Rothacher, Senior Manager of Renewable Energies at Germany Trade and Invest.
"This government initiative is giving the German PV market a new perspective on how to grow even beyond the direct private consumption potential of about 100 GWp. Should decentralized storage systems become mainstream, the German PV market could potentially aim for more than 400 GWp of installed PV capacity."
Germany Trade & Invest is the foreign trade and inward investment promotion agency of the Federal Republic of Germany. The organization advises foreign companies looking to expand their business activities in the German market. It provides information on foreign trade to German companies that seek to enter foreign markets.