But the German solar energy future may not be working after
all. On January 18, Der Spiegel
published an article by Alexander Neubacher entitled “Solar Subsidy
Sinkhole: Re-Evaluating Germany’s Blind
Faith in the Sun.”
As is so often the case in winter, all solar panels more or
less stopped generating electricity at the same time. To avert power shortages,
Germany currently has to import large amounts of electricity generated at
nuclear power plants in France and the Czech Republic. To offset the temporary
loss of solar power, grid operator Tennet resorted to an emergency backup plan,
powering up an old oil-fired plant in the Austrian city of Graz.
Solar energy has gone from being the great white hope, to an
impediment, to a reliable energy supply. Solar farm operators and homeowners
with solar panels on their roofs collected more than €8 billion ($10.2 billion)
in subsidies in 2011, but the electricity they generated made up only about 3
percent of the total power supply, and that at unpredictable times.