According to preliminary figures from the German Federal Network Agency (BNetzA), newly installed PV capacity in the first three months was about 1,800 MWp. As of 31 March 2012, this would bring Germany’s total of installed PV capacity to 26.6 GWp. According to data from the EEX transparency platform, last Friday’s solar generation peaked at 22.4 GW, with Saturday not far behind at 22.2 GW, both at 12:45.
The 1,800 MWp are slightly less than the previously rumoured 1,900 MW.
The latest figures lead to the following PV capacity table per 31 March 2012:
| Year | Month | MWp | MWp |
| 2009 | 3,802 | ||
| End of 2009 | 9,914.000 | ||
| 01/2010 | 222.247 | ||
| 02/2010 | 163.280 | ||
| 03/2010 | 331.378 | ||
| 04/2010 | 454.045 | ||
| 05/2010 | 573.176 | ||
| 06/2010 | 2,108.905 | ||
| 07/2010 | 663.064 | ||
| 08/2010 | 363.394 | ||
| 09/2010 | 654.368 | ||
| 10/2010 | 334.910 | ||
| 11/2010 | 365.448 | ||
| 12/2010 | 1,143.463 | ||
| 2010 | 7,377.678 | ||
| End of 2010 | 17,291.678 | ||
| 01/2011 | 266.138 | ||
| 02/2011 | 99.710 | ||
| 03/2011 | 147.356 | ||
| 04/2011 | 198.948 | ||
| 05/2011 | 370.739 | ||
| 06/2011 | 630.301 | ||
| 07/2011 | 571.793 | ||
| 08/2011 | 612.564 | ||
| 09/2011 | 459.668 | ||
| 10/2011 | 485.629 | ||
| 11/2011 | 659.259 | ||
| 12/2011 | 2,983.129 | ||
| 2011 | 7,485.234 | ||
| End of 2011 | 24,776.912 | ||
| 01/2012 | 450.000* | ||
| 02/2012 | 200.000* | ||
| 03/2012 | 1,150.000* | ||
| Total 31.03.2012 | 26,576.912* | ||
| * preliminary | |||
In light of the installed capacity and the sunny weather in Germany on 25 and 26 May, the IWR Institute for Renewable Energy estimated that peak PV generation reached 22 GW on those two days. This was somewhat higher than the 20.7 GW for 25 May and the 20.4 GW that SMA projected on its website - but even the lower figures would have been impressive.
The aggregated ex-post information on actual solar power generation from the EEX transparency platform shows even higher figures. At 12:45 on 25 May, solar generation peaked at 22,401 MW. On Saturday at 12:45, solar generation figures reached 22,224.3 MW. Adding wind generation of 4,332.5 MW and 2,362.2 MW on Friday and Saturday (also at 12:45), combined generation from solar and wind reached 26,733.5 MW on 25 May and 24,586.5 on 26 May.
It remains to be seen what effect the record renewable energy generation figures will have on next year’s EEG surcharge, grid expansion requirements, the commercial viability of generation capacity that can balance the intermittent electricity supply from renewable sources, and the pending decision on cuts in solar feed-in tariffs.
Sources: Federal Network Agency, IWR Institute for Renewable Energy, SMA; EEX
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