Nuying Huang, Taipei; Jackie Chang

 

The unexpected high number of solar PV system installations in Germany in 2011 may ignite the possibility for the government to initiate incentive cuts. The latest possible version is that incentives for Germany-based businesses will be cut by 2% every month until the end of the year. In addition, feed-in-tariffs (FiT) only apply to systems above 3KW. These suggestions will all be discussed by the government in Germany this week.

Industry sources believe that if FiTs only apply to small systems that are 3KW it could stimulate more residential installations.

The government in Germany is more inclined toward 4-5GW of installations per year due to the stability of its finances. This is also a rate that is more suitable for power companies' grid connection capacities. However, the incentive program in Germany has been cut by 15% in January 2012.