Business sentiment in the German solar power industry continues to be positive after the announcement of conditions more favourable to the industry in the government’s climate package this autumn, a survey by national solar power lobby group BSW Solar has revealed. “The removal of the 52-gigawatt [GW] support cap, decided by the federal cabinet as part of the climate package, is creating confidence,” said BSW managing director Carsten Körnig, according to Clean Energy Wire. “We expect a rapid increase of PV expansion targets in the Renewable Energy Act [EEG].”

After a boom period in the early 2000s, Germany’s solar power industry experienced a severe setback after 2010 due to falling support rates and cheaper competition from panel producers in China. However, falling costs also boosted the interest of investors in solar technology, leading to a resurgence in the industry’s business climate and expansion figures in Germany. With this autumn’s Climate Action Programme 2030, the government decided to double solar power capacity to 98 GW by 2030 (about 48 GW in 2019).