Regional markets were, as usual, one of the bigger topics at Intersolar earlier this month in San Francisco. Germany remains in the lead, with 28 times more solar installations than the U.S.; the country is still improving its already-successful photovoltaic (PV) policy. Here is an overview of some of the observations gleaned from around the globe at the conference.
Since the year 2000, renewable energy (RE) in Germany increased 11% and reached a 17% market share last year. “The share increased to 75% compared to last year,” explained Katharina Reiche, German parliamentary state secretary.
She added that 19.5 billion euros were invested in the global market and that more than 8,000 jobs were created in the solar market alone last year. Renewable energy expansion was enabled by the feed-in tariffs (FIT): “Support is given every four years, depending on a market situation, which offers investment and planning opportunities for the next 20 years.”