There are huge growth opportunities in the solar sector for Germany as per a report by Fraunhofer ISE. Around 3,000 GW can be used if the combination of areas like roads, facades, opencast mines, and agricultural land is used for PV.
Germany must grow wind, solar thermal, and solar PV energy in order to shift towards energy transition and meeting its climate neutrality goals as per the experts.
Christoph Kost, head of the Energy Systems and Energy Management group at Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE said, “In order to cover 100% of our electricity requirements with renewables, we have to install 6 to 8 times more photovoltaic output than today.”
According to the report, if it is installed in facades, agricultural areas, parking lots, artificial lakes, noise barriers, solar, vehicles, or streets,
A lot of space is required for such strong growth in the next few years. However, according to the paper, there are more than enough surfaces available. If installed in agricultural areas, artificial lakes, facades, parking lots, streets, noise barriers, or vehicles, solar could reach an installed power of up to 3,160 GW.
Harry Wirth, in charge of the Integrated Photovoltaics research field at Fraunhofer ISE, said, “Here, photovoltaics is combined with agriculture, floats on flooded open-cast mines, fits into the building and vehicle superstructures follow traffic routes or cover areas that have already been sealed, such as parking lots.”
He continued, “The integration of photovoltaic systems in such areas that are already in use opens up huge potential for power generation – and creates a wealth of additional synergies.”
The CO2 footprint can be reduced by focusing more on PV. By installing PV in Europe and enhancing manufacturing capacity, around 750 jobs can be created per GW.
Jonas Ott, the Greenpeace expert on renewables, said, “It is irresponsible that regulatory hurdles are still blocking the expansion of solar energy. Both solar and wind energy must be massively expanded. Only if the federal government stops its policy of preventing renewables will Germany make progress in terms of climate protection.”
The PV must be tripled to a minimum of 15 GW annually. The growth in PV can also create jobs in Germany.
“In order to raise the [potential], the federal government must immediately introduce measures such as compulsory solar power for new buildings and roof renovations, and increase the tender volumes,” added Ott.
