The more powerful the sun, the greater the risk of disruption

Solar panels are a victim of increased production in Germany

German contractor Jens Huesmann faces a dilemma. The more powerful the sun shines, the greater the risk that his photovoltaic panels will fail, rather than the much-needed electric current being drawn from them in the midst of this energy crisis.

"Every day the facility goes off the grid," says this small solar producer, whose panels have been laid out on the roof of a transport company in Aurach in northern Bavaria.

The panels have been disconnected from the electrical network more than half the time since the beginning of the year, and the current generated during this interruption is wasted, as the network cannot transmit it.

The contractor's facilities can supply about 50 households with electricity, but will only achieve half of their production capacity by the end of the year.

"It's deceiving the population," Huesemann says exasperatedly.

He is growing frustrated as electricity prices have risen due to the war in Ukraine, and with the government's calls for clean energy sources to be used to reduce dependence on Russia's fossil energy sources and meet climate goals.

He is not the only victim of this disruption, as cases of disconnection from the network have multiplied in recent years in his region, especially with regard to photovoltaic installations.

The operator "N-Energy", which purchases the production of Jens Huesmann, is well aware of this problem, but it has no choice but to intervene to solve the problem in the event of bottlenecks or in the event of network maintenance.

"We are currently witnessing an unprecedented rise in photovoltaic installations, which is good news," says Rainer Kledorfer, in charge of development at the operator.

But while the operation of this fleet requires from one to two years, “the expansion of the network infrastructure usually takes between 5 and 10 years,” especially due to the very long administrative procedures.

Therefore, disconnections from the network have been increasing in recent years, especially “at noon” when the sun is shining with all its strength.

Production is reaching its maximum levels, while the network cannot keep up with this increase.

The problem affects most of the wind energy generated nationwide, according to Karsten Kornig, director of the Solar Producers Association.

According to the latest available official data, 6.1 TWh of electricity produced in 2020 from renewable energy sources in Germany could not be used due to the weak network.

Considering that a two-person family consumes an average of 2,500 kilowatt hours, this waste represents a lost total that some 2.4 million families have been deprived of.

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