Germany adds record 17.5 GW solar PV in 2024, small-scale units problematic

Germany will grow its solar PV capacity by an annual record of around 17.5 gigawatts (GW) by the end of 2024, said energy industry association BDEW. This would bring total installed capacity in the country to around 100 GW.

However, BDEW warned that around half of the new capacity came in the form of small-scale systems under 100 kilowatt each, which under current rules feed into the grid whatever they produce, without the option to curtail production when this is necessary to ensure grid stability.

“The amount of electricity now threatens to exceed consumption next spring and summer on sunny Sundays with low electricity demand, even with perfect grid expansion,” said BDEW head Kerstin Andreae. She called on parliament to decide a law reform that would curb feed-in of new installations at 50 percent for a transitional period, until it is possible that grid operators control the feed-in of smaller PV plants as well. Otherwise, Germany would run the risk that grid operators would have to temporarily disconnect entire grid sections in the event of an overload in order to stabilise the system.

Solar PV expansion has picked up again in recent years, and Germany plans to make the technology one of its central energy sources as it aims to ramp up the share of renewable electricity to 80 percent of consumption by 2030. In 2023, renewables covered more than half of Germany’s electricity demand for the first time.