Germany now has approximately six million solar installations across the country, according to the German Solar Industry Association (BSW-Solar). The industry body announced on Saturday that nearly 390 billion kilowatt-hours of solar power were generated in Germany in the six-year period from 2020 to 2025. According to the association's calculations, that volume of energy replaced fossil fuel imports worth €20 billion.
"Every new solar installation reduces our dependence on energy imports and makes electricity prices more resilient to geopolitical crises," said BSW-Solar Managing Director Carsten Körnig in a statement to the AFP news agency. "Photovoltaics, especially in combination with battery storage, has developed into a central pillar of supply security, energy sovereignty, and economic stability."
Körnig also pointed to the environmental benefits of the country's solar expansion. According to figures from Germany's Federal Environment Agency, the use of solar power in Germany has avoided approximately 500 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over the past 20 years. Of that total, 270 million tonnes were avoided in the years 2020 to 2025 alone.
BSW-Solar called for the expansion of solar and storage technologies to be "consistently continued." The German solar sector currently employs around 120,000 people and generates annual revenues of approximately €30 billion.
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