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Whether wind, solar, biomass or geothermal energy, Germans have made a science of capturing nature’s power and putting it to work. Germany installs more photovoltaic solar panels than any other country. Giant wind turbines dot the landscape from Hamburg to Munich. Technologies for wind and solar energy are popular across Germany. They are also among the country’s biggest exports. As the global market leaders in many areas of the renewable energy sector, German companies and research institutes provide clean energy to the world by cooperating with authorities worldwide.

The government supports renewable energy technologies

The government passed the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) in 2000. That law requires electricity providers to use renewable energy sources and pay pre-set prices for it. This has helped boost the market for technologies for renewable energy production. Germany has exceeded its goals and already covered 14.2 percent of its electricity needs with renewable energy by 2007. As a consequence, the German Federal Parliament raised the goal for 2020 to at least 30 percent. On the job front the sector employed 250,000 people in 2007.