SOLAR 2013: What We can Learn from the Germans

There are many things we can learn from the Germany, as the country has become a world leader in renewable energy in just a few short years. The German government has made it a point to decentralize power generation, so over half the country’s clean power is owned by individuals or farmers, providing political support across multiple constituencies. On Friday of SOLAR 2013, we were lucky to have a session dedicated to solar in Germany. Anya Schoolman of the Community Power Network/Solar Citizen spoke as the moderator for this panel.

David Wedepohl is the Markets and Communications Director of the German Solar Industry Association. He spoke in great detail about the policy emphasis on distributed generation in Germany and the affect on political support for solar. He lays out the history of German energy and how solar began to emerge, while describing the many benefits of PV and why the Germans are so fond of it. David compares PV in Germany with the US and notes that the argument is quite different in the US because of the still lingering debate about climate change and the importance of solar energy. The Solar Power Production World Record was set in Germany in May of 2012, when up to 40% of power demand was covered by solar PV. David also describes to us some of the new PV business models and markets currently underway in Germany.

Joachim Seel, a researcher for the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, was also present on the panel to speak and answer questions regarding solar in Germany.