September 2, 2020
◼ Peak values for solar power due to sunny spring
April brought strong values to photovoltaics.
Germany has not experienced a sunnier spring than this year since records began in 1951. Especially April brought strong values to photovoltaics with almost 300 hours of sunshine and let the solar power part climb to 17.2 percent of the total power supply. In the record-breaking April alone, German photovoltaic systems generated 6.22 terawatt hours of solar power. Around three percent of private households should be particularly pleased about this, because according to the Federal Statistical Office they already generate income from solar power. For comparison: in 2013, this figure was still 2.4 percent. Monthly income did of course fall in line with the increase in photovoltaics, not least because of the reduction in solar subsidies for new roof systems.
Photovoltaic systems primarily in higher-income multi-person households
The figures also show the main factors that determine whether households earn money with solar power through their own systems: On the one hand, the proportion of households with a monthly net income of between 5,000 and 7,500 euros is highest here at 7.3 percent. On the other hand, system operators tend to be found more in multi-person households. While in 2018 only just under one percent of single-person households recorded income from their own photovoltaic systems, the figure for four-person households was already 6.3 percent.