High solar power output provokes critics of feed-in tariff further - report

Dec 30, 2011 - According to the latest data from German solar energy association BSW, solar power output in 2011 grew 60% on the year and this was yet another provocation for critics of the high subventions for solar power, the so-called feed-in tariff, daily Handelsblatt reported Thursday.

The news that solar power generation hit a new record in 2011 with 18 billion KWh made many politicians speak up for a further reduction of the feed-in tariff, the paper wrote.

The tariff will be cut by 15% in 2012 to reach between EUR 0.179 (USD 0.232) per KWh and EUR 0.244 per KWh, depending on the type of installation.

Michael Fuchs, deputy chief of the Christian Democrats (CDU), thinks that the hike of solar power generation will cost German citizens a lot. Moreover, the feed-in tariff now supports the opening of jobs in China and Malaysia and not in Germany, he added.

That is why Fuchs proposed the installed capacity of photovoltaics to be limited to 500 MW per year, while around 6,000 MW were installed in 2011, preliminary calculations show.

CDU's economic spokesman Joachim Pfeiffer said that he expects the government to keep its word and limit cost increase for solar power. There should not be taboos on the matter, he added.

(EUR 1=USD 1.295)

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