Coalition squanders opportunity for German solar industry

The German Solar Industry Association has reacted with disappointment to what it sees as a lack of "industrial policy impetus" in the planned solar package from the coalition government. In a statement issued by the association for a hearing in the Bundestag Committee on Climate Protection and Energy on Monday, it said: "In the tough competition between locations with Asia and the USA for the solar factories of the future, the last chance for a renaissance of the solar industry in Germany and for more security in the supply of key solar technology components has perhaps been squandered."

Last week, the government factions agreed on a package to facilitate the expansion of solar energy. This includes various measures. However, the FDP rejected a "resilience bonus" to promote the domestic solar industry, which was primarily demanded by the Greens. The background to this is significantly cheaper modules from China. At the end of March, Meyer Burger sealed the final end for its site in Freiberg, Saxony. The company had made the future of the site dependent on state support.

The coalition is planning bureaucratic simplifications for the expansion of solar systems, among other things. The federal association said that the solar package should make a decisive contribution to achieving the photovoltaic expansion targets in the coming years.