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In 50 Shades of Orange: Germany’s Photovoltaic Power Generation Landscape

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  • Reinhold Lehneis

    (Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH—UFZ, Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
    Department of Bioenergy, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH—UFZ, Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany)

  • Daniela Thrän

    (Department of Bioenergy, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH—UFZ, Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany)

Abstract

Spatiotemporally resolved data on photovoltaic (PV) power generation are very helpful to analyze the multiple impacts of this variable renewable energy on regional and local scales. In the absence of such disaggregated data for Germany, numerical simulations are needed to obtain the electricity production from PV systems for a time period and region under study. This manuscript presents how a physical simulation model, which uses open access weather and plant data as input vectors, can be created. The developed PV model is then applied to an ensemble of approximately 1.95 million PV systems, consisting of ground-mounted and rooftop installations, in order to compute their electricity production in Germany for the year 2020. The resulting spatially aggregated time series closely matches the measured PV feed-in pattern of Germany throughout the simulated year. Such disaggregated data can be applied to investigate the German PV power generation landscape at various spatiotemporal levels, as each PV system is taken into account with its technical data and the weather conditions at its geo-location. Furthermore, the German PV power generation landscape is presented as detailed maps based on these simulation results, which can also be useful for many other scientific fields such as energy system modeling.

Suggested Citation

  • Reinhold Lehneis & Daniela Thrän, 2024. "In 50 Shades of Orange: Germany’s Photovoltaic Power Generation Landscape," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-12, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:16:p:3871-:d:1450760
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rauner, Sebastian & Eichhorn, Marcus & Thrän, Daniela, 2016. "The spatial dimension of the power system: Investigating hot spots of Smart Renewable Power Provision," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 1038-1050.
    2. Eising, Manuel & Hobbie, Hannes & Möst, Dominik, 2020. "Future wind and solar power market values in Germany — Evidence of spatial and technological dependencies?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    3. Hosenuzzaman, M. & Rahim, N.A. & Selvaraj, J. & Hasanuzzaman, M. & Malek, A.B.M.A. & Nahar, A., 2015. "Global prospects, progress, policies, and environmental impact of solar photovoltaic power generation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 284-297.
    4. Pfenninger, Stefan & Staffell, Iain, 2016. "Long-term patterns of European PV output using 30 years of validated hourly reanalysis and satellite data," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 1251-1265.
    5. Reinhold Lehneis & Daniela Thrän, 2023. "Temporally and Spatially Resolved Simulation of the Wind Power Generation in Germany," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-16, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Reinhold Lehneis & Falk Harnisch & Daniela Thrän, 2024. "Electricity Production Landscape of Run-of-River Power Plants in Germany," Resources, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Reinhold Lehneis, 2025. "The Electricity Generation Landscape of Bioenergy in Germany," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-12, March.

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