Solar power consists of photovoltaics (PV) and solar thermal energy in the European Union (EU). In 2010, the €2.6 billion European solar heating sectors consisted of small and medium-sized businesses, generated 17.3 terawatt-hours (TWh) of energy, employed 33,500 workers, and created one new job for every 80 kW of added capacity.[Solar Thermal Markets in Europe Trends and Market Statistics 2010], European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF) June 2011 p. 14-15, Figure Capacity in operation 2010/2020
Solar energy, the fastest-growing energy source in the EU, saw an 82% cost reduction between 2010 and 2020. Solar capacity expanded from 164.19 GW in 2021 to an estimated 259.99 GW by 2023.
In 2022, four EU member states—Spain, Germany, Poland, and the Netherlands—ranked among the top 10 globally for additional solar capacity installed in the preceding year.
During 2023, an additional 55.9 gigawatts (GW) of photovoltaics systems were connected to the grid in the European Union, taking cumulative capacity to 263 GW. 2023 also saw a record high 9.1% of EU electricity generation coming from solar power.
EU solar energy strategy The EU's solar energy capacity increased significantly from 164.19 GW in 2021 to 259.99 GW by 2023, with employment in the sector growing from 466,000 workers in 2021 to 648,100 by the end of 2022, representing a 39% increase. These developments are part of the REPowerEU plan, which targets over 320 GW of solar photovoltaic capacity by 2025 and nearly 600 GW by 2030. The growth in jobs suggests the possibility of exceeding 1 million solar workers by 2025, ahead of previous estimates for 2030.
In support of its solar energy strategy, the EU has implemented three key initiatives. Firstly, the European Solar Rooftops Initiative aims to increase solar installations on buildings. Secondly, the EU Large-Scale Skills Partnership targets the skills gap in the renewable sector. Lastly, the EU Solar PV Industry Alliance focuses on enhancing solar manufacturing capacity within the EU.
Solar power is the fastest-growing renewable energy sources in the European Union, contributing significantly to electricity generation . In 2025, solar energy accounted for approximately 27.5% of total renewable electricity generation in the EU, highlighting its increasing importance alongside wind and hydro power.
The share of renewable energy in EU electricity generation reached around 47% in 2025, with solar playing a key role in this transition and continuing to expand due to supportive policies and declining costs.
Photovoltaic solar power
In 2012, photovoltaic systems with a total capacity of 17.2 gigawatt (GW) were connected to the grid in Europe, less than in 2011, when 22.4 GW had been installed. In terms of total installed capacity, according to EPIA's 2012-report, Europe still led the way with more than 70 GW, or 69% of worldwide capacity, producing 85 TWh of electricity annually. This energy volume is sufficient to power the supply needs of over 20 million households.
In 2011, solar photovoltaic continued its growth trend and Italy was the top market for the year, with 9.3 GW connected, followed by Germany (7.5 GW). These two markets were followed by France (1.7 GW) and the United Kingdom (784 MW). In terms of cumulative capacity, Germany with more than 24 GW, is the leading country in Europe, followed by Italy, with more than 12 GW. PV is now a significant part of Europe's electricity mix, producing 2% of the demand in the EU and roughly 4% of peak demand.
In 2011 the EU's solar electricity production is evaluated as ca 44.8 TWh in 2011 with 51.4 GW installed capacity, up 98% on 2010. In 2011 in the EU new installations were 21.5 GW. The solar power share in 2011 was around 3.6% in Italy, 3.1% in Germany and 2.6% in Spain. EuroObserver expects the total installation to reach at least 120 GW in 2020. The national strategies are equivalent to 84 GW solar capacity in 2020 which may underestimate the actual development taking place. For example, according to AGEE-Stat (the Ministry of Environment's Working Group on Renewable Energy Statistics), Germany connected solar capacity 7.5 GWp in 2011, twice the 3.5 GWp target. EU accounted for 74% of all newly connected capacity in 2011. According to Photon International magazine the worldwide solar cell production capacity was 12.5 GW in 2009 and 37 GW in 2011. In 2012, production capacities are set to rise to 69 GW, same as the total installed capacity worldwide at the end of 2011.Photovoltaic barometer 208 February 2012
Denmark reached its governmental goal of achieving 200 MW of photovoltaic capacity by 2020 already in 2012, eight years in advance. At that time Danish energy sector players estimated that this development would result in 1000 MW by 2020. Croatia as the newest member of the EU has a less than enthusiastic embrace of solar power due to a number of reasons. However, in past few years, Croatian solar energy has seen a dramatic increase in the overall output. From 32.4 MWh in 2012, to an additional 46,2 MWh in 2013 with another 108 MWh awaiting to be connected to the national grid and additional power plants under construction with total energy output exceeding 200 MWh. Croatian national renewable energy strategy is to increase participating share of renewable in overall energy mix from current 15.8% (end of 2012) to around 25% by 2020 with solar generating at least 500 MWh.
Market development
Recent market analyses indicate that the European solar photovoltaic (PV) sector continues to expand rapidly, driven by declining technology costs, policy support, and increased investments in clean energy infrastructure. Solar photovoltaics accounted for approximately 11% of the European Union's gross electricity output in 2024, reflecting its growing role in the region's energy mix.
Industry and market reports suggest that the Europe solar PV market exceeded USD 60 billion in 2024 and is expected to grow steadily through 2030, supported by strong deployment across residential, commercial, and utility-scale segments in countries such as Germany, France, and Spain. PV in the European Union (MWpeak)Photovoltaic energy barometer 2012 – EurObserv’ERPhotovoltaic energy barometer 2013 – EurObserv’ERPhotovoltaic energy barometer 2014 – EurObserv’ER # Country 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 1 Germany 106,272 91,204 81,737 67,477 60,036 53,669 48,912 45,156 42,291 40,677 39,222 37,898 36,708 32,698 24,875 17,370 9,959 2 Spain 44,903 35,860 28,712 23,311 13,715 10,136 8,807 4,764 4,723 4,713 4,704 4,697 4,690 4,516 4,214 3,808 3,438 3 Italy 41,183 35,437 29,789 24,555 22,594 21,650 20,865 20,108 19,682 19,283 18,901 18,594 18,185 16,361 12,764 3,478 1,157 4 France 31,226 25,456 20,542 17,341 14,603 12,056 11,917 10,729 8,610 7,702 7,138 6,034 5,277 4,027 2,831 1,054 335 5 Netherlands 25,878 24,772 23,904 19,600 14,911 11,108 7,226 4,608 2,911 2,135 1,526 1,007 650 321 118 97 68 6 Poland 25,421 21,721 15,809 12,170 7,416 3,955 1,539 562 287 187 108 27 2 3.4 1.8 2 1 7 Greece 11,077 8,827 7,030 5,430 4,277 3,288 2,834 2,652 2,606 2,604 2,604 2,596 2,579 1,543 631 205 55 8 Belgium 10,398 9,642 8,549 6,756 6,012 5,573 4,637 4,000 3,621 3,329 3,132 3,015 2,902 2,649 1,812 787 574 9 Austria 10,304 8,904 6,832 3,792 2,783 2,043 1,702 1,455 1,269 1,096 937 785 626 421 173 103 53 10 Hungary 8,177 7 166 5,835 4,235 2,968 2,131 1,400 728 344 235 172 89 35 3.7 4.1 2 0.7 11 Portugal 6.949 5,811 3,876 2,646 1,646 1,100 901 667 579 513 477 415 296 228 143 131 102 12 Romania 6,237 4,257 1,917 1,809 1,394 1,383 1,398 1,386 1,374 1,372 1,326 1,293 761 49 2.9 2 0.6 13 Bulgaria 5,910 4,560 2,937 1,737 1,275 1,100 1,044 1,033 1,031 1,030 1,028 1,029 1,019 933 132 17 6 14 Sweden 5,500 4,848 3,488 2,388 1,606 1,107 714 428 244 153 104 60 43 23 18 10 9 15 Denmark 5,046 3,945 3,529 3,070 1,704 1,304 1,080 998 906 851 782 607 571 391 16 7 5 16 Czech 4,541 3,984 2,499 2,420 2,246 2,172 2,111 2,081 2,075 2,068 2,075 2,067 2,064 2,022 1,959 1,953 463 17 Lithuania 3,295 2,575 1,165 572 255 164 103 82 74 70 69 69 68 6.1 0.1 0.1 <0.1 18 Ireland 2,494 1,489 738 289 228 152 96 53 29 11 5 3 1 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.6 19 Slovenia 1,568 1,421 1,034 626 461 370 278 247 247 233 238 223 187 217 90 36 9 20 Finland 1,566 1,219 900 664 425 318 222 140 82 39 17 11 11 11 11 10 8 21 Croatia 1,319 902 461 222 138 109 85 68 60 56 48 33 19 20 16 16 12 22 Slovakia 1,028 728 631 549 537 535 490 472 528 533 533 533 533 517 488 144 0.2 23 Estonia 984 877 690 520 395 208 121 32 15 10 7 3 2 0.2 0.2 <0.1 <0.1 24 Latvia 922 660 353 113 7 5 3 2 1 1 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 <0.1 <0.1 25 Cyprus 861 751 606 424 315 229 151 118 110 84 76 64 35 17 10 6 3 26 Luxembourg 774 548 432 317 277 187 160 131 128 122 116 110 95 76 30 27 26 27 Malta 250 238 231 222 205 188 151 132 112 94 75 55 29 18 11 2 2 United Kingdom 21,662 19,000 16,800 - - - 13,224 13,059 12,760 11,914 9,601 5,528 2,937 1,657 1,014 75 30 EU-28/27 (GWp) 364.74 308.43 248.79 194.31 161.83 135.10 131.02 114.81 106.69 101.11 95.02 86.85 80.33 68.64 51.36 29.33 15.86
PV in watts per capita # Country 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 1 Netherlands1081.5 815.4636.9400.6 250.3 160.9 120.1 83.1 65.4 39.6 19.1 7.1 2 Germany794.2 706.2645.4590.4 546.9 512.0 503.1 489.8 474.1 447.2 399.5 304.3 3 Belgium 590.3 544.7483.0395.5 373.2 338.4 302.8 286.7 277.2 267.3 240.0 165.5 4 Greece532.9 371.0307.3260.5 246.9 242.2 241.4 241.7 236.8 233.7 136.7 55.8 5 Cyprus508.4 352.7256.7146.9 130.9 123.1 64.7 82.0 75.5 40.2 19.9 12.5 6 Luxembourg488.4 435.3296.6229.0 222.6 215.0 212.8 222.0 200.1 186.2 89.9 59.9 7 Italy425.5 373.1364.2345.7 332.4 325.0 317.7 311.3 303.5 295.1 269.0 210.5 8 Denmark421.8 273.5223.6186.0 173.3 158.3 150.4 138.3 106.9 94.8 70.2 3.0 9 Estonia396.6 311.3156.480.8 0.0 0.0 7.7 3.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 10 Austria392.4 314.5229.1187.5 162.4 142.3 123.9 108.9 90.6 81.7 49.9 20.7 11 Malta387.9 369.9364.8305.1 276.0 247.9 188.8 170.5 127.5 58.7 45.0 27.4 12 Spain381.2 276.5214.0196.7 101.8 109.8 103.4 106.0 102.9 100.7 97.8 91.3 13 Hungary309.9 219.0218.6130.7 77.1 37.6 29.3 14.0 3.9 1.6 0.4 0.4 14 Poland303.3 202.7104.434.7 12.8 7.1 5.2 2.03 0.6 0.1 0.1 0.0 15 Bulgaria301.3 171.5158.6152.1 146.9 144.8 144.3 141.7 140.8 139.9 127.4 17.7 16 Slovenia299.2 174.0176.0106.7 123.9 124.9 125.5 124.8 124.2 123.8 105.7 44.1 17 France256.1 218.5178.4157.9 141.4 120.5 107.3 99.1 87.6 71.6 61.6 43.5 18 Sweden248.5 154.6106.968.2 41.9 23.1 15.6 13.3 8.2 4.5 2.5 2.0 19 Czech246.2 198.0203.0197.2 193.0 192.9 194.0 197.7 196.1 196.1 192.5 186.0 20 Portugal243.6 160.0106.888.3 65.2 55.2 45.4 44.3 40.2 26.8 21.7 13.5 21 Lithuania200.6 91.258.729.7 26.3 28.8 27.7 25.0 23.2 22.9 2.0 0.0 22 Finland106.4 73.057.539.0 22.7 11.1 3.6 2.7 1.9 2.1 2.1 2.1 23 Slovakia98.9 98.098.086.6 97.6 98.1 100.5 109.0 109.0 99.3 95.7 89.8 24 Romania74.2 72.871.871.4 70.5 70.0 69.4 66.7 64.8 51.1 0.3 0.1 25 Croatia47.2 26.926.916.9 14.9 12.4 12.0 10.6 8.1 5.1 0.1 0.1 26 Latvia29.8 4.22.61.6 0.5 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.7 27 Ireland26.3 27.218.17.3 6.0 1.9 1.1 0.5 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 United Kingdom 288.2 - -204.3 197.0 193.9 176.8 137.7 81.3 42.9 26.3 16.2 – EU 466.5 354.2 334.5 254.5 223.6 208.3 197.8 186.1 171.5 155.8 136.3 102.2
Concentrated solar power