It’s actually quite simple.
[*]The feed-in tariff decreases month by month. The registration date counts. The 12 ct have long passed. For registration in July 2019, it is still 10.64 ct for a system <10kWp.
[*]Energy prices in Germany continue to rise. Relevant literature is available, among others, from the BMWI. With a heat pump tariff, you are currently at 20-25 ct, with a standard tariff on average at 29 ct.
[*]A self-produced and self-consumed kilowatt hour is more lucrative than a self-produced and fed-in kilowatt hour.
[*]According to a simple logic, self-consumption is more lucrative than feeding in – and this is also politically desired.
[*]Photovoltaics deliver electricity depending on solar radiation (good conservative irradiation values are provided by PVGIS – provided by the EU).
[*]Electricity consumption in a household is not linear. Neither over the year, nor over a day or an hour.
[*]Batteries as energy storage serve to optimize self-consumption by temporarily covering the missing photovoltaic power and overnight so that no grid supply is necessary.
[*]Photovoltaic energy makes ecological sense if the components are ecologically manufactured – ROHS-certified components contain neither lead nor cadmium and are recyclable. (These are by far not all photovoltaic modules.)
[*]Standard photovoltaic modules were never developed for rooftop use. They are connected in series and generate very high voltages with all associated challenges such as fire protection, electrosmog, statics, the involvement of two trades in all work/repairs on the roof…
Reasons for a photovoltaic system are diverse:
[*]Attitude towards environmental issues
[*]Desire for more independence and autonomy from price developments
[*]Economic advantages
[*]Meaningful integration into an energy concept for the house
[*]...
Economic advantages include:
[*]Feed-in tariff
[*]Reduction of grid consumption
[*]Preservation / increase of property value (questionable with standard modules)
[*]...
Concerns / decisions for one system or another include:
[*]Health (electrosmog)
[*]Recyclability
[*]Service life
[*]Payback period
[*]Change in property value
[*]Effort in case of repair
[*]Aesthetics of the property
[*]Knowledge of own consumption behavior (not just annual consumption…)
Here, almost only the economic efficiency is discussed, and this is too short-sighted. I would not put standard photovoltaic modules on the roof that look terrible, always mean two trades on the roof, generate unhealthily high voltages, pose a fire load risk to the house, and lower the value of the house when resold – who buys, in 15 years, a shack disfigured with depreciated ugly photovoltaic modules?
We invest in the appearance of our house, consider colors, shapes, and materials, and then slap ugly boards on the roof – just because we cannot get out of the hammered-in cheap-is-cool payback mentality. Build houses that you like and that enable healthy and good living. With or without photovoltaics.
From 2022, no one talks anymore about “whether” photovoltaics, but about “which photovoltaics” are coming to the house. Then the low-energy house regulation applies.