PV expert explains

Why the PV boom is far from over

Born in the Waldviertel region, Cornelia Daniel is Managing Director of the photovoltaic agency Dachgold and co-initiator of the Thousand and One Roof initiative.(Bild: Dachgold/Tony Gigov)

The PV boom is now being followed by the first slump in the construction of new solar installations: it is easy to explain why there is currently less investment: the low energy prices for solar power are also reducing income when corporate and private customers feed into the public grid. "But that doesn't have to be the case," says Cornelia Daniel from Dachgold in Lower Austria, referring to a "secret" subsidy.

"In my consultations at the moment, I'm constantly explaining this new subsidy and customers ask me: 'Then why aren't thousands of kWp being built with it?' So there's often a 'too good to be true' moment," says the solar pioneer, who is a leading expert on the economic viability of photovoltaic systems. Daniel's impression is therefore that the premium is simply not well known, which is why she affectionately calls it the "hidden champion".