EU solar growth enters a new phase

Closing the year, SolarPower Europe has just published its annual EU Market Outlook for Solar Power 2024-2028. Europe has added 66 GW of solar in 2024 - a new record.

However, following successive years of over 40% year-on-year growth, the new report warns that 2024 brings only 4% annual growth to the EU solar market. This represents a 92% growth slowdown, due to a smaller residential rooftop market, and grid challenges holding up utility scale projects.

At national-level, five of 2024’s top ten solar markets installed less solar than in 2023 (Spain, Poland, Netherlands, Austria, and Hungary). The other leading markets, Germany, Italy, France, Greece, and Portugal offered modest growth, with most installing around 1 GW more than they did in 2023. 

Three countries now host more than 1 kW of solar per capita; the Netherlands, Austria, and Denmark all have the equivalent of two solar panels per citizen. 

In the new year, we can expect key legislation such as the Clean Industrial Deal, and an Electrification Action Plan to strengthen the solar sector. We know that boosting flexibility and electrification is crucial; a flexible, electrified system will slash 2030 day-ahead energy prices by 25%, while boosting solar capture rates by 71%. 

As a critical topic for the sector, we will deep dive into solar + flexibility at the SolarPower Summit 2025: Let’s Flex! Taking place on the 26-27 March, the event will bring together key policymakers, industry experts, researchers and relevant stakeholders at a critical point in time for Europe’s competitiveness, resilience and security.

Listen to SolarPower Europe’s last podcast episode of the year, where I discuss these topics and what to expect for 2025.

Last week, we held our last in-person event of the year together with Intersolar: Sustainable Solar Europe 2024. The event took place at a new venue, Event Loung Brussels, gathering over 200 attendees for a 360° perspective on solar sustainability. We exchanged knowledge and best practices for sustainability across the solar supply chain, presenting our new report, Sustainable Solar: Environmental, social, and governance actions along the value chain. We also awarded sustainability trailblazers through our EU Sustainable Solar Award. Congratulations to Solar Materials, UNEF, and SoliTek, taking home Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards respectively.

Finally, as the holidays draw in, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all of SolarPower Europe’s members, partners and friends, for yet another year of exemplary work, leading solar to new heights and ensuring we are on track to be the number one energy source by 2030.