Opportunities to retrofit solar PV systems with energy storage systems are highly underdeveloped in Germany, battery industry experts agreed at a panel discussion at Intersolar 2014 in Munich.
Sales of local PV systems are declining in Germany. An energy storage subsidy programme by the German government has not received the expected resonance from consumers, the panel members agreed. Matthias Vetter, Head of Department PV Off-Grid Solutions and Battery System Technology at Fraunhofer ISE, said the government should rethink its subsidy programme.
Business Development Manager at German storage manufacturer Sonnenbatterie Benjamin Schott said the difference between electricity payments and power generation costs of the PV system including storage would mean saving energy costs due to self-consumption. “When energy prices increase or the subsidised input tariffs expire, it will become a benefit for customers who already built PV systems without energy storage, to buy a storage solution”, he told BEST.
“More than 1M PV systems without storages are installed on rooftops in Germany,” he added.”Some 95% of our storage solutions are sold with PV systems, but with regard to all new PV system installations, there are actually only few systems with storage installed. There is a huge hidden potential that needs to be exploited.”
Christoph Ostermann, CEO of Sonnenbatterie, said the PV business case is “underdeveloped”.
PV system prices will drop, according to Joachim Simonis, Head of Marketing and Sales at Leclanché, because of the increase of industrial applications, which generate cost advantages in the production. Prices in the residential segment will also go down, he added.
A reason why the potential of the PV-market in Germany is not fully exploited, according to Ostermann, is poor advice and information consumers get by their house banks in rural areas. This influences the buying decision negatively, he stated.