Germany
has around 1,790MW in new solar
power capacity in June alone, as households and investors race to secure
feed-in tariffs.
Total installed capacity in
Germany
jumped to 29,173MW in the first
half of this year, compared with 24,800MW installed at the end of 2011.
The country added just over 254MW in May and
around 1,791MW in June, data published by grid regulator BNA show.
The expansion in June was the strongest monthly
addition so far this year.
In total,
Germany
has already added 4,373MW in new
solar power capacity in January-June, which is ahead of the government's target
of 2.5-3.5 GW/yr.
And installations
are expected to continue at a rapid pace, after policy makers agreed at the end
of June toend subsidies for new solar plants once total installed capacity
reaches 52GW.
Feed-in tariffs will also be reduced on a
monthly basis, with reductions to reach even higher if the yearly target is
exceeded. This might spark a rally in securing higher subsidies.
The German
environment ministry saidin Julythat the country might reach 52GW
of total capacity as early as 2014 or 2015.
The country would have to add around 8.3 GW/yr
in 2012-14 to reach the 52GW mark by 2014, or 6.25 GW/yr to reach it by 2015.
And the strong growth in the first half of this
year — and June in particular when a deal between policy makers on cuts to
solar feed-in tariffs became increasingly likely — indicate that Germany is
well on its way to surpass the 7.5GW installed last year.
The environment ministry and several other
experts, including German chamber of commerce and industry chamber DIHK, have
previously said a continued aggressive expansion in solar capacity is possible
because the cost of solar panels have fallen more rapidly than feed-in tariffs
in the past.