Germany’s Solar Panels Generate More Power Than Ever Before

(Bloomberg) -- Germany’s many thousands of solar panels set a new production record on Wednesday just as a heatwave is blanketing much of the continent. 

Output reached as much as 36,848 megawatts at 12:45 p.m., according to data from the European Energy Exchange AG. That beats the previous record of 36,303MW reached on April 27 last year.

“This will be because it is very sunny and there is more solar installed in Germany than this time last year,” said Jenny Chase, head of solar analysis at BloombergNEF in Zurich. “We can reasonably expect new solar records every year, though usually it is in May because it’s cooler.”

Germany added about 5.3 gigawatts of solar power capacity in 2021, 10% more than in the year before, according to the solar industry association. About 10% of Germany’s electricity consumption is met by solar generation.

Heat Wave Spreads Across Europe as Summer Highs Come Early 

Germany is already the European leader in renewable energy. In the wake of the war in Ukraine, the nation brought forward by more than a decade to 2035 its goal of getting 100% renewable power. The government’s goal is to expand solar power capacity from the current 59 gigawatts to 200 gigawatts by 2030.

(Updates with data on Germany’s solar additions last year in fourth paragraph.)

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