Image: Energy-Charts/Fraunhofer ISE

In the first week of May, the photovoltaic systems installed in Germany made the largest contribution to net electricity generation. They fed a total of 1,744.46 GWh of solar power into the grid and thus had a share of 23.6%.

On May 4, the photovoltaic systems in Germany fed more than 40 GW of power into the grid for the first time.

“New record,” tweeted Bruno Burger, head of Energy Charts at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE. The mark was surpassed at around 1 pm with around 40.014 GW, his analysis shows.

It wasn't just May 4 that was a good day for solar power generation. While large parts of the country still long for warm temperatures and a permanent spring, bright sunshine and rather cool temperatures are perfect for the generation of photovoltaic systems.

According to the information from Energy Charts, a total of almost 1,744.5 GWh of solar power was produced for public net power generation and fed into the grid in the first week of May. This is a share of 23.6%, which puts photovoltaics ahead of lignite with a share of 19.9% and onshore wind power with 19.1%. Overall, in the first days of May, renewables accounted for 66.8% of net public electricity generation.

The high feed-in from photovoltaics and wind power helped lower the retail electricity price. On Sunday afternoon, the price of electricity on the spot market even fell into slightly negative territory. There was a price peak in intraday trading on May 3 at 8 pm, with €163 euros per MWh. During the record PV feed-in the following day, the price dropped to €43 euros per MWh.