More on German Solar

Germany’s slash of solar subsidies, more and more clearly, is one of the bigger stories in recent history for the solar market. The obvious predictions, which should probably pan out - drastically reduced market growth, financial trouble for smaller companies, and large implications for the world market - also carry with them some uncertainties: will the investment money and attention fade away, or move into emerging European markets like Spain and France, who are aiming to adopt German-inspired models?

As a side note, in addition to having a lot of impact upon the United States markets, I think this might, weirdly, have a positive public relations effect for solar in America. The reason is that, as Bloomberg demonstrates, this is a relatively straightforward story with tangible effects; this isn’t a niche solar product, there is a massive change happening (so reporters aren’t just covering a long-standing trend with no dynamics,) and unlike the promising but usually removed-from-implementation drumbeat of new solar technologies, this will have a big effect on a whole lot of real people, and on a very wide scale.

As a result, this is the kind of issue that can be picked up, reported on, and continue to be reported on by mainstream media outlets, in a way that will link “not encouraging solar” with “economic problems.” Even as a solar proponent I don’t think that’s a fair characterization of the system, and I wish Germany would come up with a less drastic way of putting the brakes on their subsidy schemes, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a positive perception impact as a result. Not a good deal on balance, but a nice consolation prize.