Germany has solar LCOE ranging from €0.041/kWh to €0.144/kWh

October 7, 2024

A new report rom Fraunhofer ISE shows that the cost of PV systems in Germany is currently between €700/kW and €2,000/kW. The study also shows that the levelized cost of energy of solar-plus-storage spans from €0.06/kWh to €0.225/kWh.

October 7, 2024 Emiliano Bellini

The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of solar PV in Germany currently ranges from €0.041 ($0.049)/kWh to €0.144/kWh, according to a new report from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE).

This means that solar is the cheapest source of electricity in the country followed by wind, whose LCOE was found to span from €0.043/kWh to €0.92/kWh. “Ground-mounted PV systems and onshore wind turbines are the most cost-effective technologies in Germany, not only among renewable energies but also among all types of power plants,” the report reads.

The experts from the German research center also estimated the cost of PV systems at between €700/kW and €2,000/kW, depending on the size and solar radiation levels, while the costs of wind power plants were found to be between €1,300/kW and €1,900/kW.

The report also revealed that the LCOE of PV installations linked batteries currently ranges from €0.060/kWh to 0.225/kWh, with battery costs being estimated to be between €400/MWh and €1,000/MWh.

Looking forward, the researchers predicted that the LCOE of utility-scale PV may range from €0.031/kWh and €0.050/kWh by 2045. They also expect that the LCOE of rooftop PV will reach between €0.049/kWh and €0.010/kWh.

“The prices for PV systems are expected to decrease by 2045, potentially falling to below €460/kW for ground-mounted systems and to between €660/kW and €1,306/kW for small systems,” they stated. “By 2035, electricity generation from a PV-battery system is predicted to be significantly cheaper on average than from a combined cycle gas turbine power plant.”

They also specified that PV systems linked to batteries may achieve an LCOE of €0.07/kWh to €0.19/kWh, provided that battery costs will range from €180/kWh and €700/kWh.

“These calculations show that the large-scale projects currently being launched in Germany with a combination of ground-mounted PV systems, wind farms and stationary battery energy storage are good investments,” said Christoph Kost, Head of Department for Energy System Analysis at Fraunhofer ISE and lead author of the study. “The combination of systems allows grid capacities to be better utilized, for example.”

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