Prices for oil, gas and coal are on the increase worldwide. The reasons for this lie in the rising shortage of these raw materials, insecure political situations around the producing areas in the Middle East, in South America and in Russia as well as the enormously rising energy requirements of the emerging countries in Eastern Europe and Asia. On the other side, the cost-effectiveness of renewable energies is rising. Therefore, they will have good chances in the long run to assert themselves on the energy market.

Photovoltaics are going to play an even more important role in the energy mix in the future. The producers of solar cells and solar modules will have increased their production capacities worldwide before long, so that, on the one hand they will be able to satisfy the demand and on the other hand they will be able to reach cost reductions in production due to larger quantities.

With its 5-percent (roof) and 6.5-percent (ground-mounted) reduction of the feed-in tariffs per year, the German Renewable Energy Sources Act focuses on exactly this effect and, in addition, also exerts economic pressure on the manufacturers to produce more cheaply every year. For the investors of photovoltaic systems, the German Renewable Energy Sources Act creates long-term planning reliability because the feed-in tariff is guaranteed for 20 years.

In the meantime, 32 other countries – such as Spain, Italy and Greece – have introduced laws similar to the German Renewable Energy Sources Act with a long-time guarantee of feed-in tariffs, thus offering profitable prospects for growth to internationally operating companies such as the Gehrlicher Group.