Solar industry goes on strike

The photovoltaic industry protests vehemently against the planned solar subsidy cuts. Companies and researchers are seeing Germany’s technological edge disappear before their very eyes and fear that, as a result of these cuts, many companies will declare bankruptcy and thousands of jobs will be lost.

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The Federal Government of Germany is plunging the photovoltaic (PV) industry into chaos. At the beginning of the year, so many solar modules were installed on German roofs that there were even supply shortages for panels and inverters. Indeed, the boom could soon come to an abrupt end: The Federal Government of Germany is set to drastically cut feed-in tariffs for solar electricity by up to 40% no later than 1 April. As of May, and each month following, contributions are to fall by a further 0.15 cent per kilowatt hour fed into the grid. Furthermore, in the future, subsidies will only cover a maximum of 90% of electricity generated. The rest must be sold by installation operators on the market. From one day to the next, installers are threatened with a forced pause, which could last indefinitely.
“We expect significantly fewer investments,” states installer Claudio Fischer-Zernin, a representative of the German company Umweltfreundliche Haustechnik, based in Göttingen. The planned revision of the German renewable energy law (EEG) is not only a particular concern for those working in skilled trades, but also for all solar companies at all stages of the value-added chain. The German Solar Industry Association (BSW) warns that the local solar market could slump by 75% and that thousands of jobs in skilled trades, industry, research and development could be cut. “Instead of accelerating the process, the German government is putting on the brakes when it comes to the energy turnaround. It is absurd that photovoltaic development, of all things, is to be severely limited at a time when the costs for solar power systems are falling considerably and the promotion of solar energy barely has an impact on electricity tariffs at all,” points out Rainer Baake, Federal Managing Director of Deutsche Umwelthilfe [German environmental aid organisation].