For the month of May this year, 10 percent of Germany's total electricity production came from solar power, 40 percent more than in 2011, the Federal Association of the Energy and Water Industry reports.

A total of 4 billion kilowatt-hours' worth of solar power was fed into German grids, compared with the 2.6 billion kWh in May last year. From January to May this year, a total of 10.5 billion kWh was generated from solar, posting growth from the previous year's 7.6 billion kWh, according to German Energy Blog.

The jump in production was attributed to heightened capacity during sunny days. "This surge in green power generation reveals that the nation is well on its way to expanding the proportion of renewables in the energy mix," said Germany Trade and Invest, the country's economic development agency.

They add that the strong market has attracted a new wave of foreign investors, including BSolar, an Israel-based solar PV cell company.

"Germany's decision to replace nuclear energy with other sources is proving to not only be possible, but is creating many valuable prospects for the renewables sector," says Tobias Homann of Germany Trade and Invest. "The continued strength of the solar market has sparked greater investment from abroad."

With the agency's support, the Israeli firm has already established a plant in Heilbronn producing double-sided photovoltaic systems called "bifacial cells." – EcoSeed Staff