Contrary to the statements made by the acting German secretary of the environment Norbert Röttgen and the trade magazine “Photon” a further reduction of the feed-in tariff for photovoltaic electricity by 15 % currently in discussion would mean a huge blow for the young German solar industry. The consequences of this step would be quite severe. German manufacturers of high quality solar modules would not be able to compete anymore with the low-price Chinese competition which could mean losing the German technology leadership as well as up to 50.000 domestic jobs. The German know-how combined with the highest product quality are so far the main factors for a sustained revenue growth and the creation of new jobs. The Spanish market serves as a negative example where a drastic reduction of the feed-in tariff lead to a nearly complete collapse of PV-system sales.

Therefore it is completely incomprehensible and irresponsible from “Photon” to demand a reduction by even 20%. AS Solar GmbH strongly distances itself from these demands and asks all employees of the solar industry to do the same.