Within the first three months this year, two legislative changes in Germany and on EU level have been adopted that will bring weighty challenges to the solar industry.

Firstly, the Federal Parliament (Bundestag) adopted the Act on changes of the legal framework for electricity from solar energy on March 29, 2012. The exceedingly quick legislative procedure – the cabinet only introduced the bill on February 29, 2012 – was accompanied by considerable criticism from the solar industry. The agreed version of the law has dropped some of the most controversial points and enhanced protection of legitimate expectation with broader interim provisions. This new amendment of the Renewable Energy Act 2012 (EEG), which only came into effect at the beginning of the year, involves a considerable decrease of the feed-in tariffs for solar energy and a revision of the system of degressive tariffs.