Another record year for small-sized solar in Germany

Given the current growth trend, the company expects that around 800 MW may be installed in all of 2020, which would beat the previous record year 2011 by about 40 MW. A total of 108,000 small photovoltaic systems will have been newly installed by the end of the year. The company cites the increasing attractiveness of self-consumption solutions as a driver, adding that falling system prices and rising electricity costs are also contributing to this year's performance.

The detailed analysis of the installation figures for the first half of the year shows an above-average growth in small systems between 7 and 10 kW — a 153% increase year-on-year. This confirms the long-term trend towards larger systems in the small system segment, according to the market researchers. While the average output of the small photovoltaic systems was still 7.35 kW in 2019 as a whole, the systems installed in the first six months of this year have already reached 7.48 kW.

The end customer monitor from EUPD Research shows the growing importance of self-consumption. Today, only 6% of system owners take measures to increase their own consumption rate. A total of 82% of the operators of newly installed systems in 2020 adapt the use of household appliances to the availability of solar power. Around 41% rely on battery storage to increase their own solar consumption.

More than a quarter of PV system buyers in 2020 intend to buy an electric car or have already done so. The vehicle's additional power consumption of 2,500 to 4,000 kWh means that self-consumption increases significantly. A good fifth of system operators are considering using smart home applications in the future; 14% want to buy a heat pump.