On 29 April 2012, the German Bundestag ratified a new feed-in tariff (FIT) regime for new solar PV projects. The new regime includes a 20-30% one-off reduction in PV tariff rates as of 1 April 2012. A grace period allows eligible projects to obtain pre-existing tariff rates if installed before 1 July or 1 October 2012, depending on the project. If ratified without changes by the Bundesrat in May, the new scheme will exclude plants over 10 MW, and render ground-based projects unviable (31% of 2011 capacity). In addition to the 1 April cut, a monthly 1% degression is introduced, adjusted annually based on the installation rate that is targeted at 2.5 GW and 3.5 GW per year in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Key trends in this On Point include: New FIT scheme fuels further shake-out and rush to activate. Incentive changes disqualify solarhybrid business model. Q-Cells stumbles after long decline of its upstream core business.
On 29 April 2012, the German Bundestag ratified a new feed-in tariff (FIT) regime for new solar PV projects. The new regime includes a 20-30% one-off reduction in PV tariff rates as of 1 April 2012. A grace period allows eligible projects to obtain pre-existing tariff rates if installed before 1 July or 1 October 2012, depending on the project. If ratified without changes by the Bundesrat in May, the new scheme will exclude plants over 10 MW, and render ground-based projects unviable (31% of 2011 capacity). In addition to the 1 April cut, a monthly 1% degression is introduced, adjusted annually based on the installation rate that is targeted at 2.5 GW and 3.5 GW per year in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Key trends in this On Point include: