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10 Huge Lessons We’ve Learned From Solar Power Success In Germany

by Zachary Shahan
CleanTechnica

Fox & Friends last week had the apparent bravery (or ill-conceived agenda) to mention Germany’s huge solar power success. We’ve written three articles in response to the Fox & Friends clip:

• Fox News: Can You Get Any More Insane?
• Fox News Fails BIG TIME On Solar Subsidies
• Germany Has More Solar Power Because Everyone Wins

Another article that might help those who have been confused by Fox & Friends is this one (which I’ve been planning to write since September 2012). The fact of the matter is, Germany has had insane success in the solar industry arena. And there’s a lot that we can learn from the country (many other countries have already done so).

1. Feed-in tariffs (aka CLEAN Contracts in the US) can drive solar power growth like nothing else.

Well, maybe there are other things that could drive even stronger growth, but nothing else has done so to date. Germany leads the world in solar in many respects. As of the end of 2011, it had more solar power per capita than any other country, it has more solar power relative to electricity production than any country other than Italy (which has also used FiTs), and it has more solar power per GDP than any country other than the Czech Republic (which also followed Germany’s lead and implemented FiTs). Clearly, Germany and those who have followed with their own FiTs have seen more solar power growth than others.

… Germany crushes the US (which has not implemented FiTs) in solar power capacity:

• In 2011, Germany had over 80 times more peak solar power compared to electricity demand than the US.
• Germany has over 57 times more solar power per capita than the “Sunshine State,” my home state of Florida.
• Germany has over 21 times more solar power per capita than the US.
• Germany has over 39 times more solar power relative to electricity production than the US.
• Germany has about 24 times more solar power per GDP than the US.

(Read more here.)