According to the German government's foreign trade and inward investment promotion agency, Germany will remain the world PV market leader in 2010, with 3GW of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity already installed in the nation in the first half of this year. Germany Trade and Invest has made a number of other statements as to how the nation's PV market is adapting to ongoing cuts to its feed-in tariff, and has announced that it will send representatives to the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference & Exhibition in Valencia, Spain, from September 6-9, 2010. "Amendments to the photovoltaic feed-in tariffs of Germany's Renewable Energies Act (EEG) were passed in early July, with a further adjustment to take effect October 1st",noted Germany Trade and Invest in a press statement. "The changes mark a further shift towards the rooftop segment by abandoning field installations on cropland and increasing the attractiveness of the own consumption bonus for small and medium-scale rooftop installations." 

Germany remains an attractive market

Germany Trade and Invest says that despite the cuts to the feed-in tariff, Germany remains an attractive location to invest in PV, both for developers and manufacturers. The organization states that by 2013 PV generation is expected to be competitive with retail electricity prices, and notes that Germany's PV industry features the highest density of R&D institutes of any nation.

The organization states that increased demand in the rooftop PV segment corresponds to greater demand by users who prefer high-quality systems, and that feed-in tariff changes are also leading to increasing demand for energy storage and smart grid system.

2010-09-09| Courtesy: Germany Trade and Invest; photo: Sunline AG | solarserver.com © Heindl Server GmbH

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