At a time when the US is pushing for wind and solar power, a surprising move took place in Germany, one of the forerunners in the solar market.

Reuters announced that ” Germany on Wednesday slashed subsidies for solar power in a move to ease the world’s largest solar market towards free competition, drawing howls of protest from panel manufacturers.

“Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen set out a 15 percent cut in so-called feed-in tariffs for new roof-mounted solar power from April, confirming figures reported earlier by Reuters.

“Frank Asbeck, head of Germany’s biggest solar company by revenue, SolarWorld (SWVG.DE), said the cuts were unacceptable.

“‘The drastic short-term reduction of the tariffs in the German renewable Act will have significantly negative consequences on the German solar industry,’” said Marko Schulz, board member at Q-Cells (QCEG.DE), one of the world’s largest makers of solar cells, told Reuters. . . .

“Sven Kuerten, analyst at DZ Bank, said in a note he expected the German solar market to shrink by at least 25 percent in volumes and 40 percent in revenue in 2010. Analysts estimate the country accounts for at least 50 percent of the worldwide photovoltaic market, whose size was estimated by GTM Research at $12 billion for 2009, down 15 percent year-on-year. “Germany to slash solar panel subsidies‎

It will be interesting to see how this will play out as some companies are already committed to solar roof panels for new projects.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/asterix/151969001/

Copyright 2010Rita Watson