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• Installed capacity in March 2022 at 58,400 megawatts - an increase of almost 10 % compared to the same month last year
• Electricity feed-in from photovoltaics in Q1 2022 increased by 34.7 % compared to Q1 2021

WIESBADEN - More and more companies, but also private households, are using the sun's energy to generate electricity: In March 2022, 2.2 million photovoltaic systems with a total nominal output of 58 400 megawatts were installed on roofs and properties. As reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the number of systems thus increased by 10.1 % compared to the same month of the previous year, while the installed capacity rose by 9.7 % within a year. In January 2018, when the figure was first collected, there had been a good 1.7 million installations with a nominal capacity of 42,300 megawatts. Since then, the number of turbines has risen by just under 34.0 %, while installed capacity has increased by 38.3 %.

Photovoltaic systems were able to feed around 8.8 billion kilowatt hours of electricity from sunlight into the grid in the 1st quarter of 2022. This was 34.7 % more than in the 1st quarter of 2021, when photovoltaic systems had fed in 6.6 billion kilowatt hours. Compared to the 1st quarter of 2018, when 5.4 billion kilowatt hours were fed into the grid, the grid feed-in increased by 64.3 %.

The share of photovoltaics in total electricity generation has also increased: In Q1 2022, the share of photovoltaics was 6.3 % of total electricity generation in Germany. In the 1st quarter of the previous year, solar power still had a share of 4.7 %, in the 1st quarter of 2018 it had been 3.5 %.

Solar power is a source of income for a growing number of households 

For many private households, solar power is not only a source of energy, but also a source of income. In 2020, about 1.4 million private households - that was 3.6 % of all private households - had income from feeding solar power into the grid. This was almost 30 % more than in 2014, the first year this figure was collected. The income of these households from electricity sales recently averaged 174 euros per month, about the same as in the previous year (177 euros). Compared to 2014 with 285 euros, the average income fell by 39 %. One reason for this decline is likely to be the falling feed-in tariff for newly installed photovoltaic systems under the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG). Currently, the remuneration is less than 7 cents per kilowatt hour.

Companies in Germany generated 3.5 billion euros with photovoltaics 

The growing spread of photovoltaics is also reflected in the turnover figures of companies offering products and services for the use of solar energy. Thus, turnover with photovoltaic systems and components rose within five years from a good 2.5 billion euros in 2016 to a good 3.5 billion euros in 2020, an increase of 39 %.

Methodological notes:

The results on the income of private households are taken from the Current Economic Accounts (CCE). Households with a regular monthly net income of 18,000 euros or more are not included in the LWRs, as they do not participate in the survey or do so in too small numbers. In accordance with legal requirements, households of self-employed persons (tradesmen and self-employed farmers and freelancers) are not included in the LWR.

The data on turnover from the production of goods, technologies and services for the use of renewable energies come from the survey "Goods and Services for Environmental Protection", in which companies in the manufacturing and service sectors in Germany reported data on turnover and employees related to environmental protection.

Further information:

Data on the installed capacity of photovoltaic systems in the EU comparison can be found in our Internet article.
Further results on the income of private households can be found on the Topic page.

Source: PM of 21 June 2022 from destatis.de

Keywords:
DE-News, Renewable, PV, PlusEnergy house/settlement