In 2012, the photovoltaic cap was introduced as a compromise solution through an amendment to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG). Since then, the EEG stated that "if the sum of the installed capacity of solar plants (...) exceeds 52,000 megawatts, the values to be applied (...) are reduced to zero." Thus, an upper limit of 52 gigawatts was created for the total PV capacity in Germany. When the photovoltaic cap was reached, new installations should then no longer receive support from the EEG.
According to the German Federal Network Agency, total installed photovoltaic capacity in June 2019 was already 47 GW. The industry therefore assumed that the 52 gigawatt cap would be reached in the course of 2020. This would have meant that many solar projects would have been denied crucial subsidies, which would have meant the collapse of new photovoltaic installations in the segment up to 750 kWp. Especially for photovoltaic systems on the roofs of private households and citizen energy cooperatives, this would have meant the end in many places. As a consequence, thousands of jobs in the photovoltaic industry were at stake and there was great uncertainty about the future of photovoltaics in Germany. Some municipal utilities were already putting their first photovoltaic projects to the test and discussing a temporary investment freeze.
The abolition of the 52 gigawatt photovoltaic cap was already announced in the course of the climate package. However, there was initially no agreement on this. A draft bill by the Greens was also rejected by the grand coalition in mid-May 2020. Although the SPD was clearly in favor of abolishing the PV cap, the CDU used the discussion about the PV cap as a means of exerting pressure to be able to enforce the minimum distances from wind turbines demanded by them, according to SPD circles. On May 18, 2020, an agreement was surprisingly reached and, according to government spokespersons, the solar cap is now to be "dropped immediately.
Peter Droege, the president of EUROSOLAR e.V., comments: "EUROSOLAR sees (...) no reason to cheer that the feint of Economics Minister Altmaier, which has served as a red herring since 2012, has been removed in the guise of a "generous gesture"!"
