Germany installed 3.3 GW of solar capacity in the second quarter (Q2) of 2023, a substantial growth of 94% year-over-year from 1.7 GW added in the same period last year, as the country spearheads the renewable transition in Europe.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, installations increased 10% from 3 GW.

The data was unveiled in a recent report by the German Federal Network Agency Bundesnetzagentur.

For Q1 2023, Mercom had reported the solar installations to be 2.6 GW, as the Federal Network Agency had pegged installations for March 2023 as 1.067 GW and for April 2023 as 881 MW.

The agency has revised the installation numbers upwards of the monthly additions for these months to 1.118 GW and 1.007 GW, respectively, making the quarterly installations 3 GW.

The state of Bayern led the solar installations in the country with 1.6 MW installed during the year, followed by Nordrhein-Westfalen with 971.3 MW and Baden-Württemberg with 832.7 MW.

The country’s cumulative solar capacity stands at 73.8 GW.

In April 2023, in what appeared to be a possible revival of Germany’s renewable sector, the country’s solar auction was oversubscribed with 347 bids totaling 2.87 GW submitted for a tendered quantity of 1.95 GW of ground-mounted and non-building solar systems. Of the submitted bids, 245 were accepted, while 25 were excluded due to formal errors.

The underwhelming response to solar auctions in 2022 prompted the German Parliament to allow the Federal Network Agency to raise the tariff cap by up to 25%. The country set a ceiling tariff of €0.113 (~$0.0123)/kWh for rooftop solar systems tenders for 2023.

Germany, once heavily reliant on Russian gas imports, found itself at the center of the energy crisis in Europe following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. However, the nation has seized this pivotal moment to steer toward a more sustainable future.

As Germany continues to lead the way, solar installations are expected to witness substantial growth in the upcoming quarters.

While addressing a session at the 53rd World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023,  German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reaffirmed that the country’s renewable shift is well on track despite setbacks and has accelerated post the war began in Ukraine.

Germany installed 7.18 GW of solar capacity in 2022, a growth of 35.47% YoY from 5.3 GW in the preceding year. The country’s cumulative solar capacity at the end of the year stood at 66.5 GW.