BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - According to the solar industry, more new solar systems for generating electricity and heat were installed in Germany last year than ever before. More than one million new systems were installed, the German Solar Industry Association (BSW) reported in Berlin on Tuesday. A large proportion of these are so-called balcony power plants. Around 270,000 new plug-in solar devices were put into operation in Germany in 2023. That is four times as many as in 2022. However, in view of the budget crisis, it is unclear what will become of the government's demand.

According to the Federal Network Agency, systems with a peak output of around 14 gigawatts of electricity generation from sunlight were newly commissioned on rooftops and open spaces. This is 85 percent more than in 2022.

According to the BSW, half of the newly installed solar power capacity in 2023 was attributable to the residential segment. PV systems on open spaces accounted for around 31 percent and PV systems on commercial roofs for around 18 percent. "Due to their low specific output, the large number of plug-in solar devices accounted for less than two percent of the newly installed PV output," emphasized BSW Managing Director Carsten Kornig.

There are now around 3.7 million solar power systems installed in Germany. They would have generated around 62 billion kilowatt hours of electricity in 2023, covering around 12 percent of German electricity consumption.

In order to promote climate-friendly power generation, the state is helping interested parties. The level of interest was demonstrated in September: in less than 24 hours, the 300 million euros available for last year from the "Solar power for electric cars" program were exhausted. At times, the customer portal of the KfW development bank was overloaded due to the rush. Those who took part in the program could look forward to an investment grant of up to 10,200 euros, intended for owners who wanted to buy an electric car and install a charging station for it in combination with a photovoltaic system and a solar power storage unit.

The Ministry of Transport actually wanted to make a further 200 million euros available for the current year - but this seems uncertain in view of the budget crisis. Details on savings still need to be clarified in close consultation with the members of the Bundestag, the Ministry of Transport explained on Tuesday when asked by dpa. The vote could not be anticipated.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs is also unable to say what will happen with the solar requirement in other programs. "The programme of requirements for the development of production capacities for transformation technologies remains in place," it said. However, a reduction is planned. "We are now clarifying what concrete effects this will have and which projects can now be requested and to what extent. It is not possible to make a final statement on this at the moment."

The industry association expects demand for solar installations to remain high in 2024. It justifies this with further rising electricity prices and attractive demand conditions. "We expect the solar boom to continue in 2024," explained Kornig. However, to ensure that the growth targets are also achieved in subsequent years, the reduction in bureaucracy must not be allowed to stall. Further measures to speed up procedures are needed to upgrade the electricity and heating grids more quickly.

In 2024, more than 1.5 million property owners were planning to install a solar system on their roof, the BSW reported. The association based this projection on a representative survey conducted by the opinion research institute Yougov among over 1,000 property owners in mid-December. According to the survey, 69 percent of residential property owners with suitable roof space could imagine installing a solar system on their roof. "16 percent are already planning to do so in the next 12 months," it continued.

Specifically, the association expects rooftop systems with a PV output of up to 30 kilowatts in the residential segment in 2024 - a demand of a similar magnitude to 2023. Last year, PV rooftop systems with a total peak output of seven gigawatts were installed in this segment. In contrast, the BSW expects market growth for PV systems on commercial roofs and open spaces./tob/DP/stw