Germany Notes - Part 3

Pretty house in Freiburg. 

I have spent the last few days working on a longer blog post regarding renewables affect on the German electricity market. After some consideration, I don't think now is the proper time to do a deep dive into topics like this. I would also like to look deeper into the technologies that provide grid stability with large penetrations of renewables, but again, I think waiting to do a more thorough analysis would be the best option.

I think in this first round of research review, I will stay at a higher level. That will allow me to move quickly through each country and note the topics I found interesting. Then, in my second round I can do a more thorough investigation of each topic with a perspective on how each topic relates to the others. This will allow me to stitch together a coherent narrative of my past year. Forming this narrative will be the most challenging part, which is why I am choosing breadth over depth at this time.

For the remainder of this post, I will reflect on my experience with one company I interview called Si Module when I was in Freiburg Germany.

Si Module was a small module manufacturer with about 25 MW of production capacity. Unlike many German module manufacturers, Si Module was till in business during my brief time in Germany. The main reason why they hadn't went out of business was a combination of their small size and the strength of their local market. Freiburg is the self-proclaimed "Solar City" of Germany and has many residential solar installations. Buying local products is just part of the culture. Additionally, module prices play a lesser role in the cost of residential and commercial installations when compared with utility scale projects. These mix of factors allowed Si Module to continue to sell modules because their consumers were not lured by cheap prices to buy Chinese modules

Another advantage of Si Module was the double glass module, which proved popular in Freiburg for its aesthetics. No Chinese module maker commercial produces large volumes of double glass modules because the extra sheet of glass is more expensive than the back sheet. This niche product helped Si Module maintain its competitiveness.

An apartment building in Freiburg rocks the double glass modules. Without the back sheet, the sunlight can shine through the cracks between the cells providing more light below.