German cabinet approves cuts in solar power tariffs

Berlin - The German government has agreed to slash subsidies for electricity-generating solar panels, sources said after Wednesday's cabinet meeting. For the last 10 years, German utilities have been legally obliged to pay above-market prices for electricity from solar panels on roofs and in fields.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet agreed to reduce feed-in tariffs by 16 per cent for rooftop panels commissioned after July 1 this year, in a deal previously struck amongst the coalition partners.

Those rates of return were already cut by 9 per cent for photovoltaic systems commissioned after January 1 this year, so the final reduction will amount to 25 per cent compared to 2009 prices.

The July 1 price reduction - which still awaits parliamentary approval - means utilities will pay 0.33 euros (0.45 dollars) per kilowatt-hour.

The cost of solar panels has dropped significantly since the subsidies were introduced 10 years ago. However, government moves to unwind start-up assistance were bitterly opposed by a solar-power lobby.

Under the agreement, solar panels set up on military land and rubbish dumps will see rates reduced by a further 11 per cent, while units on farmland will only be subsidized in exceptional circumstances.

Farm groups, angered by big city investors buying up farm land to "harvest the sunshine," had sought the change in law.

The silicon collectors on photovoltaic panels can convert the sun's heat into electricity. Conversion devices alongside then transform the current into the form of electricity used in homes and offices.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/312262,german-cabinet-approves-cuts-in-solar-power-tariffs.html.