guckuck2
2022-04-07 10:51:19
- #1
So, one thing upfront: I think it's crap and a very weak signal from Habeck.
But I can still explain it to myself: Solar installers have been telling the fairy tale of too low feed-in tariffs and maximizing self-consumption for years. That seems to be enough for the industry to boom and to have been well utilized even before supply shortages and war. There are even more and more people who voluntarily forego the money from the feed-in tariff...
Anyway, photovoltaic systems can sustain themselves solely through self-consumption. Especially quickly with heat pumps and electric cars. And therefore, this private sector doesn’t need to be heavily subsidized. It already runs. (And if something runs, subsidies have to go away, that's how it is.)
What doesn’t work anymore with the low feed-in tariff are full feed-in systems on outbuildings, warehouses, sheds, multi-family houses, etc. THEY must be subsidized. They are usually large and significantly help with the energy transition.
The only catch unfortunately is that full feed-in operators are increasingly being pushed toward small "self-consumption optimized" systems. And that is exactly wrong. Both for the wallet and the environment. Therefore, I am in favor of a quick correction here and at least 8-9 cents being paid. And with that, you’re still giving away money, since the electricity is usually worth more!
The catch is that guaranteed, artificially high feed-in tariffs do provide incentives for expansion, but they don’t build a sustainable market if the tariff doesn’t decrease. This means there’s no price pressure on manufacturers and system builders.
At some point, you can’t get off that anymore. Because even if we have a lot of photovoltaic electricity, if it is extremely expensive (or at least more expensive than alternatives) for decades due to subsidies, we haven’t achieved much.
The original idea behind photovoltaic subsidies was to develop an industry (which we did, even in our own country for a time) so that a kWh of solar power no longer costs 60 cents to produce. The goal has long been reached. Actually, a point at which subsidies should stop, at least in the previous scope.