Technology learning from the lawmaker's point of view

The paper gives an overview over the German energy policy in the area of renewable energy sources. It focuses on the Renewable Energies Act (REA) of April 1, 2000, which has shown to be the main stimulus for the upswing of the market of renewable energies in Germany. One of the key features of the REA is the declining compensation schedule which aims at generating and stimulating learning curve effects. The paper shows the key findings of a report to the German Bundestag on the market and on the cost trend of installations for the use of photovoltaics, wind power, biomass and hydropower.

Keywords: electricity, renewable energies, photovoltaics, wind power, biomass, hydropower, market trends, cost trends, technical progress, compensation schedule, Germany