Booming German solar industry hits export quota of 30 per cent

Freiburg - Germany's booming solar-energy industry expects to export 30 per cent of the equipment it manufactures this year, said Carsten Koernig, the head of the Solar Industry Federation BSW, on Sunday. He was speaking to Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa before the Thursday opening of the annual trade fair Intersolar in the south-western city of Freiburg. Koernig said the German industry's workforce would rise from 40,000 to more than 50,000 in the course of this year. Investors have rushed for shares in German companies making sun- powered water-heating and electricity-generating gear, encouraged by German government tax breaks. Last year, the German sector scored a sales growth of 30 per cent. 'We expect steady growth this year,' said Koernig, predicting total sales of more than 4 billion euros (5 billion dollars). 'That would mean a gain of about 10 per cent,' he said. 'Germany leads the world in the level of installation of solar energy,' he said. 'Last year, the industry here left Japan and the United States in second and third place.' Exports had been rising sharply during this year with the current level at 30 per cent. Intersolar is expected to attract 20,000 trade visitors from 60 nations. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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