BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The solar industry warns that tens of thousands of jobs are at risk due to planned cuts in subsidies for new, small-scale solar installations. Carsten Körnig, Managing Director of the German Solar Association (BSW), told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur: "If the planned cuts to subsidies and the requirements for direct marketing of fed-in solar power are implemented, at most only one in three people would still purchase a solar roof."
According to the association's estimates, demand for private solar roofs is expected to collapse from the current 5 gigawatts to less than 2 gigawatts per year. "This would translate almost one-to-one into job losses. Tens of thousands of employees would turn their backs on the solar industry. This would be another blow to the economy and a bitter loss for our sector."
There are currently around 100,000 jobs in the solar industry, about half of which are in the residential photovoltaic segment. Following a similar politically induced market slump 15 years ago, it took many years for the skilled trades to return to the solar sector. "If they get a bloody nose for a second time now, many small and medium-sized enterprises will not return to the solar economy." Switching to the market segment of large ground-mounted solar parks would not be an option for the majority of companies, as this area is already highly competitive, less labor-intensive, but very capital-intensive.
Reiche: Small Installations Are Profitable
Federal Minister of Economic Affairs Katherina Reiche (CDU) plans to abolish subsidies for new, small solar installations. For small rooftop photovoltaic systems, the current rule is: anyone who feeds solar power into the grid receives a fixed amount per kilowatt-hour for 20 years - this depends on factors such as the size of the system and the volume of power fed into the grid. A ministry spokesperson stated that the general public is currently using tax funds to finance electricity from small rooftop photovoltaic systems that could already be economically viable without subsidies.
Industry Critical of Direct Marketing
The planned abolition of the feed-in tariff for small solar systems would primarily affect owners of single- and two-family homes, Körnig said. "The planned mandate for compulsory direct marketing is also problematic." Currently, this is intended for systems with an output of over 100 kilowatts, which are medium-sized commercial rooftop systems. For the direct marketing of small solar systems on the electricity exchange, the technical requirements are usually not met. The installation of digital electricity meters (smart meters) is progressing very slowly. Furthermore, there are foreseeably few providers who would take over the unsubsidized direct marketing of small amounts of electricity for customers in the residential segment.
Significantly Longer Payback Periods Expected
"Currently, the payback periods for new small rooftop systems are around 10 years under very favorable conditions, such as high self-consumption rates due to the use of heat pumps, battery storage, and electric cars. But even with high self-consumption, payback periods would rise to at least 19 years without the feed-in tariff," Körnig said. For the majority of potential investors, this would be unattractive./hoe/DP/zb
