Germany’s solar feed-in tariff worked magic.
Germans agreed to pay extra for solar generated electricity, and megawatts of solar went onto roofs and into nearby fields.
Europe's feed in tariff led to uneconomic solar deployment, says Duke's David Mohler
The tariff in “Europe stimulated solar deployments,” said David Mohler, vice president and chief technology offer at Duke Energy. This is especially true in Germany. As of 2007, the country accounted for half of the global solar market.
The trouble is it’s “uneconomic deployments,” Mohler said Tuesday at the Dow Jones Alternative Energy Innovations conference. The panels went in at above market rates.
When it comes to encouraging solar deployment in the United States, “I’m not sure that’s the best way to serve the need,” he said.
Mohler said he has seen impressive product roadmaps from solar companies – with technology driving down manufacturing costs substantially over the next five years.
The better way to get solar into the field is to deploy it in stages, putting some in now and adding more as costs come down. At Duke, the company proposed deploying $100 million of solar panels, a relatively small amount, but a substantial deal for a young solar company eager to book a sale. The impact on the average Duke retail bill was 16 cents a month.
Ultimately, the investment was trimmed to $50 million and monthly increase to 8 cents. Still the deals mean a lot to a solar vendor, even if not as much as a feed-in tariff stampede.
