Germany installed more solar photovoltaics (PV) in the first quarter of 2010 than the US installed in all of 2009.
According to German-language media, the Bundesnetagentur announced the figures in a report on the first quarter of 2010.
Pholtovoltaik-Magazin online reports that 30,000 new solar PV systems were installed in the first three months of 2010 for a total of 714.7 MW.
In a draft study, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) reports that only 435 MW of solar PV were installed in the entire US in 2009.
Germany installed more solar PV in the first month of 2010, about 240 MW, than the state of California installed in all of 2009, 212 MW, according to preliminary data from IREC. Germany has twice the population of California but a much smaller land area.
While attention has focused on Germany’s solar PV development, the country continues to install wind and biogas plants as well. In 2009 Germany installed nearly 2,000 MW of new wind generating capacity–roughly equivalent to 1,000 wind turbines–and about 1,000 MW of new biogas plants.
Italy was also expected to surpass the US in total solar PV capacity during the first quarter.
