Photovoltaics are on the rise across Europe

Published on: August 20, 2020 / Update from: October 12, 2021 - Author: Konrad Wolfenstein

Photovoltaics and electromobility worldwide – Image: m.mphoto|Shutterstock.com

A look at Europe shows that solar energy is not only booming in Germany. According to the industry association Solarpower Europe, new photovoltaic systems with an output of around 16.7 gigawatts (GW) were installed there last year. Compared to 2018, this corresponds to an increase of a whopping 104 percent.

The association's figures also show that sun-drenched Spain was the front runner with 4.7 GW realized. Germany follows closely behind, reaching an impressive 4.0 GW in 2019. Both countries have very ambitious goals. Spain wants to increase the share of renewable energy in electricity generation to 74 percent by 2030, while Germany is aiming for 65 percent.

Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe: “Solar energy in the European Union is flourishing. We have entered a new era of solar growth, with more new solar capacity installed in 2019 than any other power generation technology. This installation boom shows that solar energy in Europe is on the right track and with bold climate leadership from the new Commission, solar energy can help make the European Green Deal a reality.”

Photovoltaics on the rise across Europe – ©SolarPower Europe: 2019

Aurélie Beauvais, Policy Director of SolarPower Europe, added: “There are several reasons that explain the growth of solar energy in Europe. Primarily, the increased demand can be attributed to the cost competitiveness of solar energy - it is often the cheapest source of electricity generation - as well as the impending deadline by which Member States must meet their binding national renewable energy targets by 2020. EU countries have also started preparing for their path to compliance with the Commission's Clean Energy Package, which sets a target of 32% renewable energy by 2030, with many national governments increasingly turning to low-cost solar to meet their targets “.

In 2019, Spain was the largest solar market in Europe with an expansion of 4.7 GW. Spain has not achieved this feat since 2008. The main solar markets for 2019 were Germany (4 GW), the Netherlands (2.5 GW), France (1.1 GW) and Poland, which almost quadrupled its installed capacity to 784 MW. This trend towards increasing solar installations was observed across the EU: 26 of the 28 member states installed more solar systems in 2019 than in the previous year. By the end of 2019, the EU will have a total of 131.9 GW, an increase of 14% compared to last year's 115.2 GW.

Michael Schmela, Executive Advisor and Head of Market Intelligence at SolarPower Europe, said: “With solar energy becoming the most popular and versatile energy source among EU citizens and price reductions continuing, we are only at the beginning of a long upward trend for solar energy in Europe . As for the medium-term projections, we expect EU growth to continue, with an increase of 26% in 2020, taking demand to 21 GW, and installations are on track to reach 21.9 GW in 2021 to reach. The record year is expected to be 2022, with an expected all-time high of 24.3 GW of installations, and again in 2023 with 26.8 GW of new solar capacity installed. The coming years are truly phenomenal for solar development in Europe.”