Photovoltaic expansion in March at 944 megawatts

According to the updated report from the Federal Network Agency, new photovoltaic systems with 2.65 gigawatts were added in the first quarter. The authority has once again corrected the growth figures for the previous months upwards.

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The expansion figures show that the expansion of photovoltaics in Germany is proceeding much more dynamically than in the case of wind power.

Graphic: Federal Network Agency

According to the updated statistics from the Federal Network Agency, the net increase in photovoltaic systems in Germany in March was 943.7 megawatts. This is more than the 898.9 megawatts in January and 807.6 megawatts in February. For the first quarter, the photovoltaic expansion added up to 2650.2 megawatts. According to the Federal Network Agency (as of April 17), more than 2.85 million photovoltaic systems with a total output of 70.154 gigawatts are installed in Germany.

The Federal Network Agency has thus once again corrected the figures for the previous months upwards. In the last publication, it indicated the photovoltaic expansion for January at 874 megawatts and for February at 746 megawatts.

The goal of an installed photovoltaic output of 215 gigawatts by 2030 is therefore still a long way off. According to calculations by the Federal Network Agency, the monthly increase would have to be 1557 megawatts. However, the federal government has published an expansion path on how this goal is to be achieved. According to this, it is planning a photovoltaic expansion of nine gigawatts this year and this goal seems quite realistic according to the figures for the first quarter.

Distributed across the segments, roof systems with EEG feed-in tariffs continue to have the highest share. They accounted for 589.4 of the 943.7 megawatts in March. According to the statistics, 15.5 megawatts were newly added to open-space systems with statutory EEG remuneration in March and in the case of photovoltaic tenant electricity there are systems with a total of 3.1 megawatts. In the tender category, the Federal Network Agency recorded an increase of 119 megawatts in photovoltaic ground-mounted systems and 14.6 megawatts in roof systems for March, for which bids were redeemed. In the segment of unsubsidized photovoltaic systems, 191.3 megawatts were added for open space and 10.2 megawatts for structural systems.

Bavaria is still the regional leader in photovoltaic expansion in Germany. New photovoltaic systems with almost 598 megawatts were added here in the first quarter. North Rhine-Westphalia ranks second with 397.6 megawatts, just ahead of Baden-Württemberg with 380.8 megawatts. The city states bring up the rear. In the first three months, Berlin had a newly installed photovoltaic output of 13.4 megawatts, putting it ahead of Hamburg with 6.5 megawatts and bringing up the rear in Bremen with 3.2 megawatts.

The Bonn authority estimates the dismantling of photovoltaic systems for March at 300 systems with a total output of 1.4 megawatts.