Germany: solar plant site data
Solar power plant in Cologne, Germany: yield, tilt angle and row spacing
Cologne: 1,045 kWh per kWp a year at the optimal tilt of 39°, 3° east of south (PVGIS). Exactly the median of the main cities of Germany (1,045). #97 of 193 main cities of Germany by yield. For comparison, Kyiv: 1,114 kWh/kWp — 6.2% less here.
Cologne is in North Rhine-Westphalia. Population 1,024,621 (GeoNames). 58 m above sea level. 357 km away: Hamburg, the nearest bigger city, 990 kWh/kWp — 5.6% more here. 13.61 m between rows, pitch 17.33 m, GCR 0.28 (latitude 50.9°).
- Yield of 1 kWp
- 1,045kWh/year
- Tilt
- 39°3° east of south
- 10 kW
- 10,446kWh/year
- Row pitch
- 17.33m · GCR 0.28
- Rank in the country
- 97of 193 cities
Ground frame designer
A ground frame for a solar plant: Cologne
Latitude 50.9°: the tilt and the row pitch follow it. Enter the snow and wind for Germany in the designer, by the national annex to the Eurocode.
- No sign-up
- Snow and wind check
- Drawings and estimate
Yield by month
May: 125 kWh/kWp, December: 33 — 3.8 times less.
January: 39 against the median of 35 for the main cities of Germany, 11.4% more.
| kWp | A year | May | December |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 5,223 | 625 | 165 |
| 10 | 10,446 | 1,250 | 330 |
| 15 | 15,669 | 1,875 | 495 |
Snow and wind loads
Snow and wind loads for a site in Germany follow DIN EN 1991-1-3/NA (snow load zone, Schneelastzone) and DIN EN 1991-1-4/NA (wind zone, Windzone). Solispec computes loads by the Ukrainian DBN V.1.2-2 only, so this page shows no snow or wind values for Germany: enter the characteristic values from these documents in the designer’s «Own snow S0» and «Own wind W0» fields.
The frame calculation for such a site is preliminary: before installation it must be checked by an engineer who works to the country’s standards.
Nearby cities
Sources
- PVGIS © European Union, 2001–2026 — yield, tilt and azimuth, data as of 2026-10-10
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0) — coordinates, elevation, population and divisions (changed)
- Where to take snow and wind loads from: DIN EN 1991-1-3/NA, DIN EN 1991-1-4/NA
- How these numbers are computed
Preliminary calculation: a design needs an engineer’s check.