Germany's PV capacity addition at record level in January following roof boom

• For the month of January, 56,620 photovoltaic systems with an overall capacity of 780.7 megawatts (MW) were freshly reported to the German Federal Network Agency (BNetzA), of which 760.4 MW were supported by the Renewable Energy Law (EEG) and 20.4 MW were unsubsidized systems.

This means that new registrations were practically two times as high (plus 96.4 percent) as in December (397.6 MW).

There has actually never been such a large quantity of newly reported capacity in a January before; the previous highest possible value was reached in 2019 with 552 MW. At that time, nevertheless, there was an unique impact as a result of a change in the aid problems, as well as this is also the case this year: since January 1, roof systems are only needed to join tenders from a capacity of 1 MW; until then, an upper limit of 750 kilowatts (kW) had actually applied. Additionally, the renumeration for systems from 300 to 750 kW are now significantly greater. Certainly, numerous commissionings were delayed as a result: the total capacity of new rooftop systems (outside of tenders) was only 172 MW in December 2022, however 562.5 MW in January 2023-- a boost of 227 percent.

The BNetzA likewise even more adjusted its data for past durations, with substantial changes-- most likely largely because of the current inclusion of unsubsidized installations in the total amounts. Appropriately, the complete solar power capacity in operation in Germany as of December 31, 2022, was 67.399 gigawatts, which is about 900 MW more than the BNetzA had suggested at the end of January.