Follow Germany's Lead: Streamlined Permitting

By Tom Jackson
09 August 2012   |  

 

Germany, a leader in renewable energy, recently set a world record when it produced 22 GW of power on May 26th, 2012.  At that point in time, half of the country's electricity was generated from solar.  Germany's current capacity for solar energy reaches about 28 GW and the country aims to reach 66GW by 2030.

By the end of 2011, Germany had about 21.6 times more solar power installations per capita than the United States.
Why is it that Germany, which has a much lower level of solar radiation than the United States, proportionally dwarfs the U.S. when it comes to solar installations?

 

 What is Germany Doing Differently?
In addition to creating rewarding financial incentives for residential solar, such as their well-known Feed-in Tariff, the streamlined permitting process in Germany has given way to widespread adoption of solar energy.
Germany has successfully scaled basic design and installation processes, driving down the cost and wait-time associated with residential solar.  Moreover, the country has actually eliminated permitting for standard residential solar, which is part of the reason residential solar is so prominent in the country.