schizoidmanMar 2

German ministry plans to end subsidies for small solar power systems

https://lemmy.zip/post/60031089

German ministry plans to end subsidies for small solar power systems - Lemmy.zip

Lemmy

Show threadFirst_ThunderMar 2
This is stupid given that Germany needs every watt of new generation it can get in order to reduce electricity prices (if anything, to kickstart their industrial might again)
Show threadoneserMar 2

It’s going to happen worldwide and it is less of a reflection of a lack of interest, but the current price of PVs mean they are economical even without subsidies. link

I think this is a good thing, IF the subsidies are shifted from PV to other de-carbonising measures (e.g. increased heating system replacement subsidies).

Solar photovoltaic panel prices

Average price of solar modules, expressed in US dollars per watt, adjusted for inflation.

Our World in Data
Show threadFirst_Thunder
If German electricity was cheap, like in Portugal Here I would say it is reasonable to reduce the amount of subsidies. However German electricity prices appear to be double that, likely constraining industry
Electricity - Market

REN description - see translation in CMS

Mar 2 at 8:57amWeb
Show threadHaraldvonBlauzahnMar 4

And solar energy has considerably contributed to lower electricity costs for the German industry! It is households which pay the extra costs of grid modernization, but don’t harvest much advantages of cheap renewable generation.

Also, IMO grid modernization should be considered a cost caused by fossil energy use, because it would be much cheaper if we hadn’t been clinging to coal for so long. And the necessity to modernize the grid is also caused by the climate damage which fossil energy is causing, so it is wrong to charge even consumers which already use 100% of cheap renewable energy with the cost of modernization.

And regarding nuclear, which somebody surely will bring up - at that point betting on nuclear was just an excuse for continuing to use fossil energy without changing ways. Nuclear is just too expensive to be any reslistic alternative. Especially considering that the billions spent on nuclear plants would have much better effects if spent on modernizing train infrastructure and giving interest-free KfW credits for investments in buildung insulation, heat pumps, and EVs.