this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2026
69 points (98.6% liked)

Europe

10460 readers
757 users here now

News and information from Europe πŸ‡ͺπŸ‡Ί

(Current banner: La Mancha, Spain. Feel free to post submissions for banner images.)

Rules (2024-08-30)

  1. This is an English-language community. Comments should be in English. Posts can link to non-English news sources when providing a full-text translation in the post description. Automated translations are fine, as long as they don't overly distort the content.
  2. No links to misinformation or commercial advertising. When you post outdated/historic articles, add the year of publication to the post title. Infographics must include a source and a year of creation; if possible, also provide a link to the source.
  3. Be kind to each other, and argue in good faith. Don't post direct insults nor disrespectful and condescending comments. Don't troll nor incite hatred. Don't look for novel argumentation strategies at Wikipedia's List of fallacies.
  4. No bigotry, sexism, racism, antisemitism, islamophobia, dehumanization of minorities, or glorification of National Socialism. We follow German law; don't question the statehood of Israel.
  5. Be the signal, not the noise: Strive to post insightful comments. Add "/s" when you're being sarcastic (and don't use it to break rule no. 3).
  6. If you link to paywalled information, please provide also a link to a freely available archived version. Alternatively, try to find a different source.
  7. Light-hearted content, memes, and posts about your European everyday belong in other communities.
  8. Don't evade bans. If we notice ban evasion, that will result in a permanent ban for all the accounts we can associate with you.
  9. No posts linking to speculative reporting about ongoing events with unclear backgrounds. Please wait at least 12 hours. (E.g., do not post breathless reporting on an ongoing terror attack.)
  10. Always provide context with posts: Don't post uncontextualized images or videos, and don't start discussions without giving some context first.

(This list may get expanded as necessary.)

Posts that link to the following sources will be removed

Unless they're the only sources, please also avoid The Sun, Daily Mail, any "thinktank" type organization, and non-Lemmy social media (incl. Substack). Don't link to Twitter directly, instead use xcancel.com. For Reddit, use old:reddit:com

(Lists may get expanded as necessary.)

Ban lengths, etc.

We will use some leeway to decide whether to remove a comment.

If need be, there are also bans: 3 days for lighter offenses, 7 or 14 days for bigger offenses, and permanent bans for people who don't show any willingness to participate productively. If we think the ban reason is obvious, we may not specifically write to you.

If you want to protest a removal or ban, feel free to write privately to the primary mod account @EuroMod@feddit.org

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
federalreverse@feddit.org
poVoq@slrpnk.net
anzo@programming.dev
EuroMod@feddit.org
69
German ministry plans to end subsidies for small solar power systems (www.reuters.com)
submitted 8 hours ago by schizoidman@lemmy.zip to c/europe@feddit.org
14 comments fedilink hide all child comments
top 14 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] msrb711@feddit.org 1 points 30 minutes ago

I used to work in the industry from 2012 until 2023.

Yes, building private PV plants has become exponentially cheaper than it was in 2010s, and there are nowdays so many privately owned PV-systems that on sunny days Germany does often have an oversupply of electricity. (that problem can be solved with Smart-grid systems)

But that's not the real reason. One reason I see is that because of extremely high grants that has become a fertile ground for embezelment. The second reason I see is that for the most installing companies installing PV systems on residential homes is a pain in the a** and not a moneymaker anymore. Even in Germany many small-to-middle sized companies have gone bankrupt or are struggling. What has remaind are the giants who are able to compete on infrastructure level PV-plants (and who also have other sources of income) or micro-companies "with a single van".

I would say that the times have changed and with it the way residental-PV is treated by the governments.

[–] Stefan_S_from_H@piefed.zip 4 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

I wonder how this could benefit me. So far I came up empty.

[–] B0rax@feddit.org 2 points 2 hours ago

Well that entirely depends on if you have millions worth in shares in fossil fuels or not.

[–] comrade_twisty@feddit.org 5 points 4 hours ago

Reminder that Germany was once the technology leader in solar cell production until the CDU killed the industry and gave that whole market to China.

[–] First_Thunder@lemmy.zip 31 points 8 hours ago (2 children)

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)

[–] CosmoNova@lemmy.world 15 points 6 hours ago

You see the last government was the best we had in decades, possibly generations. And they were unpopular. So the new government is doing the opposite. Theyβ€˜re stupid and their policies are destructive for the economy and society. But hey, at least they are even more unpopular than the last government!

[–] oneser@lemmy.zip 9 points 7 hours ago (3 children)

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).

[–] Phineaz@feddit.org 12 points 7 hours ago

I would agree with you generally, but this case is a bit different. Currently, you can get compensation for feeding electricity into the grid. For small PV systems this is negligible (though it used to be substantial), but larger ones exceeding I'd say 10 kW can still recuperate some of the costs that way while covering their need. In addition, large commercial plants could get compensation for electricity production exceeding the local grid's capacity to incentivise the development both of local grids (to save cash) and for local providers to increase generation capacity early on.

The current ministry is essentially slashing all these incentives (and turning them around: you have to pay to be connected to the grid) which is likely going to lead to a second crash in the PV market.

[–] First_Thunder@lemmy.zip 14 points 7 hours ago

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

[–] cows_are_underrated@feddit.org 2 points 4 hours ago

IF the subsidies are shifted from PV to other de-carbonising measures (e.g. increased heating system replacement subsidies).

We'll, thats where the problem lies......

[–] Jajcus@sh.itjust.works 3 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

PV is already cheap and other parts of tge infrastructure are lacking. In my opinion it makes sense to drop subsidies for PV, it will easily grow without them. Infrastructure modernization and energy storage should be subsidized instead. To pull investments where they are needed most.

[–] Ooops@feddit.org 2 points 3 hours ago

Infrastructure modernization and energy storage should be subsidized instead.

Strange way to spell fossil fuels, the only thing this corrupt and backwards government will ever subsidize properly.

Not surprising as they made one of the minds behind the destruction of the PV industry in German and the subsequent sell-out to China as well as establishing a way for grid providers to delay planned storage for a decade Minister of Economy...

And in a few years they will all again loudly scream how renewables simply don't work (if you sabotage them 24/7 - but never say the quiet part out loud) and we really need to start planning some imaginary nuclear reactors to be build in a few decades.

[–] eigenspace@feddit.org 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Makes sense. PV is dirt cheap with or without subsidies, and there's already so much solar generation that every mildly sunny day produces so much solar that the electricity prices swing to zero before spiking back up when the sun goes down.

If subsidy money is going to be spent, it should be spent on things that people wouldn't do without a subsidy, and is productive for the grid. In this case, I think if anything for small, residential homes is going to be subsidized, it should be home batteries.

[–] kungfuratte@feddit.org 1 points 2 hours ago

The cheaper the better. Makes storage power stations more cost efficient.