Sun tax: Solar industry calls for deletion and a solar acceleration law

Published on: September 1, 2020 / Update from: September 26, 2020 - Author: Konrad Wolfenstein

Business warns of new solar brakes - however, plans by the Federal Ministry of Economics to only support companies with new solar roofs in the fall as part of an amendment to the EEG (Renewable Energy Act) if they no longer consume a proportion of their own solar power and take part in auctions an aberration and a cost driver.

Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier – Image: Alexandros Michailidis|Shutterstock.com

Without a significant acceleration of the expansion of photovoltaics, the recently decided gradual phase-out of coal will become a waste of climate policy, warns the Federal Solar Industry Association (BSW), with a view to a first draft of the amendment to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) that appeared at the beginning of the week. If there is no acceleration, market researchers believe there will be a gap in electricity generation in just a few years. If the expansion of renewable energies is too slow, it would inevitably lead to longer operating times for fossil and nuclear power plants in Europe.

The BSW is therefore calling on the federal government to finally release the brakes on the now inexpensive climate protection technology within the framework of a solar acceleration law and to refrain from further braking maneuvers. The expansion of photovoltaics (PV) must take place twice as quickly as planned by the federal government in its current climate protection program for 2030. In order to accelerate the annual PV expansion from currently around four gigawatts to at least ten gigawatts, unused commercial roofs in particular would have to be mobilized significantly more for solar power harvesting than is currently the case.

Exactly the opposite is now at risk if the Federal Ministry of Economics' alleged plans become reality, warns the BSW as part of an initial brief assessment of the EEG draft, which is to be discussed in the federal government, the Bundestag and the state chamber in the next few weeks.

The BSW describes the economic department's plans to only support new photovoltaic systems to companies if they no longer consume a proportion of their own solar power and have previously successfully taken part in an auction as a wrong move. “These conditions are harassing and the opposite of what the energy transition needs and drives forward. “That would be like forcing farmers to market all of their yields and no longer allowing them to use them for their own consumption,” explains BSW Managing Director Carsten Körnig.

The Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) agrees with the BSW in a note that a system change towards tenders for solar roofs will slow down companies' willingness to invest instead of inspiring them. This is also proven by the experiences of neighboring France. “The French solar roof auctions are considered a failure and a scare for investors. They are signed regularly and are expensive. The need for funding is 20 percent higher than in Germany,” said Körnig.

Sun tax cancellation: Elimination of this market barrier

Business and consumer protection associations have been calling for some time to increase the willingness to invest in solar technology by finally eliminating market barriers such as the EEG levy on solar power consumed locally, which was introduced in 2014. Körnig: “The SUN TAX blocks billions in investments in the energy transition in the areas of electricity, heat and mobility. In addition to the expansion of photovoltaics, it makes it more difficult to market urgently needed intelligent and decentralized solutions for storage and sector coupling and sometimes even violates EU law.”

The removal of this market barrier is also at the top of a current industry survey by the BSW and the Intersolar Europe trade fair on the most important reform wishes in connection with the upcoming amendment to the law in the area of ​​building photovoltaics, in which over 500 solar companies took part.

Finally, the BSW warns of avoidable cost increases in connection with the latest plans from the Federal Ministry of Economics and calls for a thorough revision of the legal plans. This would quickly further reduce the costs and subsidy dependency of Germany's most popular form of energy. The first solar parks can now be built in Germany without subsidies and investors can also be found on roofs for market premiums of a few cents. In 2017 - at the time of the last major amendment to the EEG - comparable solar power systems received a third higher subsidy. In the last ten years this has even fallen to a quarter of its previous value.

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