Private households and companies are increasingly relying on solar energy to generate electricity. According to the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden, the share of photovoltaic systems on German roofs has increased by almost 30 percent within a year. In April, the approximately 3.4 million systems in Germany produced around 81,500 megawatts of electricity. The nominal production increased by a fifth compared to the same month last year.
The share of solar energy fed into the electricity grid also grew. In total, around 53.6 million megawatt hours of solar energy were fed in in 2023, which corresponds to a percentage of 11.9 – a new high, according to the statistics. In 2022, this value was 19.6 percent. The production of green electricity was particularly high in June 2023, when more than a quarter (27.3 percent) of the electricity supplied came from solar energy systems.
Private households in particular not only use the electricity for their own needs, but also sell it to the public grid. In 2022, 4.7 percent of private households (around 1.8 million) in Germany had income from the sale of solar energy. This share has increased in recent years: in 2015 it was 3.1 percent or 1.2 million households. On average, this income per household amounted to 183 euros per month in 2022.
Solar panel production in Germany is declining
However, fewer solar panels are being produced in this country. This is evident from figures on foreign trade and the production of corresponding systems, presented by the Federal Statistical Office. For example, in the first quarter of this year, 52.8 percent fewer solar panels were produced in Germany than in the same period last year. At the same time, imports from China, the most important import country, also fell significantly, by two-thirds.
All solar systems that supply electricity to public supply networks and have an electricity meter are included in the statistics. Smaller systems such as the popular balcony power plants are usually not included.
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Private households and companies are increasingly relying on solar energy to generate electricity. According to the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden, the share of photovoltaic systems on German roofs has increased by almost 30 percent within a year. In April, the approximately 3.4 million systems in Germany produced around 81,500 megawatts of electricity. The nominal production increased by a fifth compared to the same month last year.
The share of solar power fed into the electricity grid also grew. In total, around 53.6 million megawatt hours of solar power were fed in in 2023, which corresponds to a percentage of 11.9 – a new high, according to the statistics. In 2022, this value was 19.6 percent. The generation of green power was particularly high in June 2023, when more than a quarter (27.3 percent) of the fed-in electricity came from solar energy systems.