Planning a solar carport or building a system in Gladbeck, Troisdorf, Dorsten or Detmold? Looking for a roof over the parking lot with solar?

• Quick and easy assembly
• Individually customizable design (color, materials, surface, size, etc.)
• Installation of charging stations and inverters is possible at any time
• Scalable & modular: Available as a single, double or arbitrarily scalable row carport
• Even the standard version can be used for very high wind and snow loads
• ... and much more

• [Click here for more]

Everything from a single source, specially designed for solar solutions for large parking areas. You refinance or counterfinance into the future with your own electricity generation.

Advice and solutions can be found here 👈🏻

Advice and planning including a non-binding cost estimate. We bring you together with strong photovoltaic partners.

Advice and solutions can be found here 👈🏻

We are positioned across regions in German-speaking countries. We have reliable partners who advise you and implement your wishes.

Get in touch with us 👈🏻

Photovoltaic Library (PDF) – Image: Xpert.Digital / Benvenuto Cellini|Shutterstock.com

Large PDF library: Market monitoring and market intelligence on the subject of photovoltaics.

Data is viewed at regular intervals and checked for relevance. This usually brings together some interesting information and documentation, which we combine into a PDF presentation: our own data analyzes and marketing intelligence as well as external market observations.

More about it here:

• Overview of photovoltaics/solar library & useful information as PDFs for download

Electricity prices by country worldwide – Image: Xpert.Digital

In Germany, the electricity price for private households was the highest in the world in March 2020: residents had to pay 39 dollar cents per kilowatt hour.

Worldwide electricity consumption

Since 1980, global electricity consumption has tripled. Most recently, China and the USA were the world's largest electricity consumers. In comparison, China used around ten times as much electricity as Germany. When looking at sectors, industry has always been the largest consumer of electricity. Private households, however, were responsible for around a quarter of global electricity usage.

Electricity consumption in Germany

According to the current status, industry was also the largest consumer in Germany. In contrast to the global distribution, in this country the consumer group commerce, trade and services was in second place, followed by households. Germany's electricity consumption has fluctuated between 530 and 630 terawatt hours over the past 30 years. However, the amount of electricity consumed has tended to decrease over the last ten years.

Electricity prices for private households in selected countries worldwide in 2020 (in US dollars per kilowatt hour)

• Germany – US$0.39 per kilowatt hour
• Bermuda – US$0.37 per kilowatt hour
• Denmark – US$0.34 per kilowatt hour
• Portugal – US$0.32 per kilowatt hour
• Belgium – US$0.32 per kilowatt hour
• Japan – US$0.29 per kilowatt hour
• Ireland – US$0.29 per kilowatt hour
• UK – US$0.27 per kilowatt hour
• Italy – US$0.27 per kilowatt hour
• Australia – US$0.25 per kilowatt hour
• Czech Republic – US$0.25 per kilowatt hour
• Austria – US$0.25 per kilowatt hour
• Spain – US$0.24 per kilowatt hour
• New Zealand – US$0.24 per kilowatt hour
• Belize – US$0.23 per kilowatt hour
• Switzerland – US$0.23 per kilowatt hour
• Greece – US$0.23 per kilowatt hour
• France – US$0.22 per kilowatt hour
• Slovenia – US$0.21 per kilowatt hour
• Slovakia – US$0.21 per kilowatt hour
• Poland – US$0.20 per kilowatt hour
• Netherlands – US$0.20 per kilowatt hour
• Peru – US$0.20 per kilowatt hour
• Kenya – US$0.20 per kilowatt hour
• Finland – US$0.19 per kilowatt hour
• Romania – US$0.19 per kilowatt hour
• Sweden – US$0.18 per kilowatt hour
• Estonia – US$0.18 per kilowatt hour
• Israel – US$0.17 per kilowatt hour
• Malta – US$0.16 per kilowatt hour
• Hong Kong – US$0.15 per kilowatt hour
• Brazil – US$0.15 per kilowatt hour
• USA – US$0.15 per kilowatt hour
• Iceland – US$0.14 per kilowatt hour
• South Africa – US$0.13 per kilowatt hour
• South Korea – US$0.12 per kilowatt hour
• Canada – US$0.11 per kilowatt hour
• Norway – US$0.10 per kilowatt hour
• China – US$0.08 per kilowatt hour
• Russia – US$0.06 per kilowatt hour

Worldwide electricity consumption – Image: Xpert.Digital

In 2017, around 22.3 petawatt hours of electricity were consumed worldwide. Compared to 1980, net electricity consumption has more than tripled. The information on net electricity consumption results from net electricity production plus electricity imports, minus electricity exports and minus losses during transport via the electricity grid.

Electricity consumption worldwide

China was recently the largest consumer of electricity. The Asian country consumed around ten times as much electricity as Germany every year. The USA was also one of the largest electricity consumers. The industrial sector recorded the highest consumption of electricity in a sector comparison. Private households used around a quarter of the world's electricity.

Electricity consumption in Germany

Net electricity consumption in this country increased continuously until 2007. After a significant decline in 2009, the consumption value increased again and has been subject to small fluctuations since then. Per capita electricity consumption has behaved similarly so far. The largest consumer group has so far been industry, followed by commerce, trade and services as well as households. Traffic took up a significantly smaller share.

Global electricity consumption from 1980 to 2017 (in terawatt hours)

• 1980 – 7,323 terawatt hours
• 1985 – 8,658 terawatt hours
• 1990 – 10,391 terawatt hours
• 1995 – 11,482 terawatt hours
• 2000 – 13,277 terawatt hours
• 2005 – 15,748 terawatt hours
• 2006 – 16,430 terawatt hours
• 2007 – 17,213 terawatt hours
• 2008 – 17,465 terawatt hours
• 2009 – 17,415 terawatt hours
• 2010 – 18,640 terawatt hours
• 2011 – 19,329 terawatt hours
• 2012 – 19,719 terawatt hours
• 2013 – 20,388 terawatt hours
• 2014 – 20,781 terawatt hours
• 2015 – 21,227 terawatt hours
• 2016 – 21,815 terawatt hours
• 2017 – 22,347 terawatt hours

Largest countries in the world by electricity consumption – Image: Xpert.Digital

China ranked first among the world's largest electricity consumers in 2017, consuming around 5,900 terawatt hours of electricity. The second largest consumer is the USA, followed by India and Japan. With an amount of 539 terawatt hours, Germany is the seventh largest electricity consumer in the world.

Electricity consumption worldwide

More and more electricity is being consumed worldwide - today it is around three times as much as in 1980. The industrial sector accounts for the largest share, followed by private households as well as the commercial and public sectors. Transport, on the other hand, accounts for a relatively small share of the electricity consumed worldwide.

Electricity consumption in Germany

Net electricity consumption in Germany is significantly higher today than it was almost 30 years ago. Industry is primarily responsible for the high electricity consumption. But German households also consume almost a quarter of the electricity. Current electricity generation in Germany is higher than the amount consumed. The electricity is therefore exported to the neighboring countries of the Netherlands and Austria, among others.

Largest countries worldwide according to their electricity consumption in 2017 (in terawatt hours)

• China – 5,935 terawatt hours
• USA – 3,888 terawatt hours
• India – 1,177 terawatt hours
• Japan – 946 terawatt hours
• Russia – 919 terawatt hours
• Germany – 539 terawatt hours
• Brazil – 516 terawatt hours
• South Korea – 512 terawatt hours
• Canada – 509 terawatt hours
• France – 455 terawatt hours
• United Kingdom – 307 terawatt hours
• Italy – 300 terawatt hours

Economic viability of photovoltaic systems – Image: @shutterstock|petrmalinak

Since 2017, 600 MW has been awarded annually through tenders for systems over 750 kW. For the years 2019 to 2021, a further 4 GW will be awarded through special tenders.

Electricity from open-space systems is subsidized via the Renewable Energy Act (EEG). The remuneration for this type of system was lower than for photovoltaic systems that are mounted on or on buildings.

In 2009 the remuneration was 31.94 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity fed in; in 2010 it fell to 28.43 cents for new systems. As of January 2013 it was 11.78 cents, falling with discounts of 2.5% per month. The 2014 amendment to the EEG stipulated that the level of funding for open-space photovoltaic systems should in future be determined in tenders by the Federal Network Agency, instead of the previous feed-in tariffs determined by law. The implementation took place in the regulation on the tendering of financial support for open space systems of February 6, 2015 (Open Space Tender Ordinance). With the EEG 2017, these tenders are regulated by law. Smaller PV systems up to 750 kWp receive a legally determined remuneration without tendering.

The first bidding date was April 15, 2015 with an advertised quantity of 150 megawatts. The tender volume was several times oversubscribed. The Federal Association for Renewable Energy expressed the fear that citizens' cooperatives and systems could be pushed out of the market because, due to their lower capital strength, they have to make fewer advance payments and can bear fewer risks.

Tenders have been criticized because international experience and economic models suggest that the desired goals of cost efficiency, expansion goals and diversity of actors are thwarted. The pilot model for ground-mounted PV systems was intended to test the practical impact of tenders in the field of renewable energies.

More about it here:

• Economic efficiency of solar systems

When will China be climate neutral? – Image: @shutterstock|Harvepino

According to data on the plan provided by Tsinghua University's Institute of Energy, Environment and Economics, China has set 84 percent of its total energy sources to come from non-fossil fuels. That's a huge increase from current levels, as China's non-fossil fuel production was just 15 percent last year. Tsinghua University shows how the massive transition to cleaner energy will start slowly but gain momentum after 2030.

Currently, China is the world's leading coal consumer and producer, with an estimated coal-fired power generation of 2.86 billion tons in 2025. According to Bloomberg, reducing this fossil fuel is China's top priority in producing clean energy, and it hopes to produce just 110 million tons of coal-fired power by 2060 - a 96 percent reduction. Other fossil fuels in the country, including natural gas and petroleum, account for only half of what coal produces. What China loses in coal, it wants to regain with an almost equal mix of wind, solar and nuclear energy.

More about it here:

• China and climate neutrality

Who is driving investments in renewable energies? – Image: @shutterstock|Krisana Antharith

Sustainable investments in the energy sector, once a flagship of renewable energy policy, perform particularly poorly in wind power investments due to complex approval processes that often deter investors.

Global investment in renewable energy has almost doubled in the last decade. During this period, Europe lost its position as a top investor in renewable energy and was overtaken by China and the United States. Investment in China nearly tripled between 2009 and 2019, according to a release from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the United Nations and the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. The data includes corporate and government R&D spending, investments in venture capital, private equity and public markets, as well as money spent on renewable energy assets and other such assets, the latter accounting for the largest share of investment worldwide.

More about it here:

• Who is driving investments in renewable energies?

Renewable energies: Now it's all about the energy storage systems - Image: petrmalinak|Shutterstock.com

The market for renewable energies is growing. Global investment in renewable energy has almost doubled in the last decade. While we are experiencing the biggest boom worldwide, in Germany they are declining, except for photovoltaics. In 2019, around 11 billion euros were invested in Germany. The focus of these investments was in the area of ​​solar energy.

The market for photovoltaics in Germany has been developing upwards again since 2014.

Global investments in wind energy technologies amounted to around $143 billion in 2019. Investments in solar energy technology were recently at $141 billion.

With renewable energies, the national power grid is also changing. While power grids with central power generation have dominated so far, the trend is towards decentralized generation systems. This applies to production from renewable sources such as photovoltaic systems, solar thermal power plants, wind turbines and biogas plants.

“Electricity generation from solar and wind energy systems makes the supply system much more fragmented and weather-dependent than the operation of conventional power plants,” says Prof. Dr. Clemens Hoffmann, head of Fraunhofer IEE.

More about it here:

• Renewable energies and energy storage systems