Overview

• Economics Minister Katherina Reiche argues that new small rooftop PV systems no longer need 20-year feed-in tariffs and should be paired with storage and controllability to ease grid stress
• Peter Knuth of the Bundesverband des Solarhandwerks warned on August 18 that subsidy withdrawal is already causing insolvencies and could spark widespread layoffs in the solar installation sector
• Uncertainty over proposed tariff cuts has led many homeowners to postpone solar projects by up to a year, undermining near-term demand and installer cash flow
• Solar firms have begun sending protest letters to the Economics Ministry and regional lawmakers to influence policy decisions ahead of planned legislative action
• Industry groups cautioned that losing trained specialists now would jeopardize efforts to recruit roughly 160,000 additional renewables workers needed by 2030