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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 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.

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.

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.

PV in the European Union (MWpeak)
#	Country	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010	2009
1	Germany	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	Italy	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
3	Spain	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
4	Netherlands	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
5	France	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
6	Poland	15,809	12,170	7,416	3,955	1,539	562	287	187	108	27	2	3.4	1.8	2	1
7	Belgium	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
8	Greece	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
9	Austria	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	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	3,876	2,646	1,646	1,100	901	667	579	513	477	415	296	228	143	131	102
12	Denmark	3,529	3,070	1,704	1,304	1,080	998	906	851	782	607	571	391	16	7	5
13	Sweden	3,488	2,388	1,606	1,107	714	428	244	153	104	60	43	23	18	10	9
14	Bulgaria	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
15	Czech	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
16	Romania	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
17	Lithuania	1,165	572	255	164	103	82	74	70	69	69	68	6.1	0.1	0.1	<0.1
18	Slovenia	1,034	626	461	370	278	247	247	233	238	223	187	217	90	36	9
19	Finland	900	664	425	318	222	140	82	39	17	11	11	11	11	10	8
20	Ireland	738	289	228	152	96	53	29	11	5	3	1	0.7	0.7	0.6	0.6
21	Estonia	690	520	395	208	121	32	15	10	7	3	2	0.2	0.2	<0.1	<0.1
22	Slovakia	631	549	537	535	490	472	528	533	533	533	533	517	488	144	0.2
23	Cyprus	606	424	315	229	151	118	110	84	76	64	35	17	10	6	3
24	Croatia	461	222	138	109	85	68	60	56	48	33	19	20	16	16	12
25	Luxembourg	432	317	277	187	160	131	128	122	116	110	95	76	30	27	26
26	Latvia	353	113	7	5	3	2	1	1	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	<0.1	<0.1
27	Malta	231	222	205	188	151	132	112	94	75	55	29	18	11	2	2
	United Kingdom	16,800	-	-	-	13,224	13,059	12,760	11,914	9,601	5,528	2,937	1,657	1,014	75	30
EU (GWp)		251.73	203.26	162.43	136.24	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	Netherlands	1081.5	815.4	636.9	400.6	250.3	160.9	120.1	83.1	65.4	39.6	19.1	7.1
2	Germany	794.2	706.2	645.4	590.4	546.9	512.0	503.1	489.8	474.1	447.2	399.5	304.3
3	Belgium	590.3	544.7	483.0	395.5	373.2	338.4	302.8	286.7	277.2	267.3	240.0	165.5
4	Greece	532.9	371.0	307.3	260.5	246.9	242.2	241.4	241.7	236.8	233.7	136.7	55.8
5	Cyprus	508.4	352.7	256.7	146.9	130.9	123.1	64.7	82.0	75.5	40.2	19.9	12.5
6	Luxembourg	488.4	435.3	296.6	229.0	222.6	215.0	212.8	222.0	200.1	186.2	89.9	59.9
7	Italy	425.5	373.1	364.2	345.7	332.4	325.0	317.7	311.3	303.5	295.1	269.0	210.5
8	Denmark	421.8	273.5	223.6	186.0	173.3	158.3	150.4	138.3	106.9	94.8	70.2	3.0
9	Estonia	396.6	311.3	156.4	80.8	0.0	0.0	7.7	3.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
10	Austria	392.4	314.5	229.1	187.5	162.4	142.3	123.9	108.9	90.6	81.7	49.9	20.7
11	Malta	387.9	369.9	364.8	305.1	276.0	247.9	188.8	170.5	127.5	58.7	45.0	27.4
12	Spain	381.2	276.5	214.0	196.7	101.8	109.8	103.4	106.0	102.9	100.7	97.8	91.3
13	Hungary	309.9	219.0	218.6	130.7	77.1	37.6	29.3	14.0	3.9	1.6	0.4	0.4
14	Poland	303.3	202.7	104.4	34.7	12.8	7.1	5.2	2.03	0.6	0.1	0.1	0.0
15	Bulgaria	301.3	171.5	158.6	152.1	146.9	144.8	144.3	141.7	140.8	139.9	127.4	17.7
16	Slovenia	299.2	174.0	176.0	106.7	123.9	124.9	125.5	124.8	124.2	123.8	105.7	44.1
17	France	256.1	218.5	178.4	157.9	141.4	120.5	107.3	99.1	87.6	71.6	61.6	43.5
18	Sweden	248.5	154.6	106.9	68.2	41.9	23.1	15.6	13.3	8.2	4.5	2.5	2.0
19	Czech	246.2	198.0	203.0	197.2	193.0	192.9	194.0	197.7	196.1	196.1	192.5	186.0
20	Portugal	243.6	160.0	106.8	88.3	65.2	55.2	45.4	44.3	40.2	26.8	21.7	13.5
21	Lithuania	200.6	91.2	58.7	29.7	26.3	28.8	27.7	25.0	23.2	22.9	2.0	0.0
22	Finland	106.4	73.0	57.5	39.0	22.7	11.1	3.6	2.7	1.9	2.1	2.1	2.1
23	Slovakia	98.9	98.0	98.0	86.6	97.6	98.1	100.5	109.0	109.0	99.3	95.7	89.8
24	Romania	74.2	72.8	71.8	71.4	70.5	70.0	69.4	66.7	64.8	51.1	0.3	0.1
25	Croatia	47.2	26.9	26.9	16.9	14.9	12.4	12.0	10.6	8.1	5.1	0.1	0.1
26	Latvia	29.8	4.2	2.6	1.6	0.5	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.7	0.7	0.7
27	Ireland	26.3	27.2	18.1	7.3	6.0	1.9	1.1	0.5	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2
28	United Kingdom	-	-	-	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

Solar power, the production of electricity from solar energy, is performed either directly, through photovoltaics, or indirectly, using concentrated solar power (CSP). One advantage that CSP has is the ability to add thermal storage and provide power up to 24 hours a day. Gemasolar, in Spain, was the first to provide 24-hour power. There is considerable academic and commercial interest internationally in a new form of CSP, called STEM, for off-grid applications to produce 24-hour industrial scale power for mining sites and remote communities in Italy, other parts of Europe, Australia, Asia, North Africa and Latin America. STEM uses fluidised silica sand as a thermal storage and heat transfer medium for CSP systems. It has been developed by Salerno-based Magaldi Industries. The first commercial application of STEM will take place in Sicily from 2015.

CSP in Europe (MWpeak)
#	Country	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
1	Spain	10.00	60.00	281.40	531.40	1,151.40	1,953.90	2,303.90
2	Italy	0	0	0	5.00	5.00	5.00	5.35
3	Germany	0	0	0	1.50	1.50	1.50	1.50
4	France	0	0	0	0.50	0.75	0.75	0.75
EU		10	60	281	738	1,159	1,961	2,311

Solar thermal

Over the next 10 years the European solar thermal will grow on average at a rate of 15% per annum. According to the National Renewable Energy Action Plans the total solar thermal capacity in the EU will be 102 GW in 2020 (while 14 GW in 2006).

In June 2009, the European Parliament and Council adopted the Directive on the promotion of the use of energy from Renewable Energy Sources (RES). For the first time, heating and cooling accounting for half of the final energy demand will be covered by a European directive promoting renewable energies. The overall renewable target is legally binding but renewable mix is free. According to the delivered national plans the highest of solar heating markets during 2010-2020 will be in Italy, Germany, France, Spain, and Poland in respect to the national target in 2020 and capacity increase. Top countries per capita will be Cyprus, Greece, Austria, Italy, and Belgium.

In some European countries the solar thermal market is still in its infancy. Bulgaria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom have extremely low targets in their plans. Estonia, Finland, Latvia, and Romania have not included solar thermal in their national plans at all.

Solar heating is the usage of solar energy to provide space or water heating. Worldwide the use was 88 GW_thermal in 2005. Growth potential is enormous. The EU have been second after China in the installations. If all EU countries had used solar thermal as enthusiastically as the Austrians, the EU's installed capacity would have been 91 GWth (130 million m), far beyond the target of 100 million m by 2010, set by the white paper in 1997. In 2005 solar heating in the EU was equivalent to more than 686,000 tons of oil. ESTIF's minimum target is to produce solar heating equivalent to 5,600,000 tons of oil (2020). A more ambitious, but feasible, target is 73 million tons of oil per year (2020) – a lorry row spanning 1,5 times around the globe.

Solar heating in the European Union (MWthermal)
#	Country	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
1	Germany	7,766	9,036	9,831	10,496	11,416	12,055
2	Austria	2,268	3,031	3,227	2,792	3,448	3,538
3	Greece	2,708	2,853	2,855	2,861	2,885	2,915
4	Italy	1,124	1,410	1,753	2,152	2,380	2,590
5	Spain	988	1,306	1,543	1,659	2,075	2,238
6	France	1,137	1,287	1,470	1,277	1,691	1,802
7	Poland	254	357	459	637	848	1,040
8	Portugal	223	395	526	547	677	717
9	Czech Republic	116	148	216	265	625	681
10	Netherlands	254	285	313	332	605	616
11	Denmark	293	339	379	409	499	550
12	Cyprus	485	490	491	499	486	476
13	United Kingdom	270	333	374	460	455	475
14	Sweden	202	217	227	236	337	342
15	Belgium	188	204	230	226	334	374
16	Ireland	52	85	106	111	177	196
17	Slovenia	96	111	116	123	142	148
18	Hungary	18	59	105	120	125	137
19	Romania	66	80	73	74	93	110
20	Slovakia	67	73	84	100	108	113
21	Croatia					84	98
22	Bulgaria	22	56	74	81	58	59
23	Malta	25	29	32	36	34	35
24	Finland	18	20	23	23	30	33
25	Luxembourg	16	19	22	25	23	27
26	Latvia	1	1	1	3	10	12
27	Lithuania	1	2	2	3	6	8
28	Estonia	1	2	2	3	4	6
EU (in GW)		19.08	21.60	23.49	25.55	29.66	31.39
Notes: The relation between collector area and rated power: 1m = 0.7 kWthermal Data source for 2013: Divergent figures from different reports. Total of 31.39 GWth corresponds to figures from EurObserv'ER report, while report from the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF) accounts for 30.2 GWth and includes capacity from non-EU member Switzerland. Data sources of previous years: 2012 not sourced – 2011 – 2010 – 2009 – 2008 For historical data from 2004 to 2010 see collapsed table below

Solar heating in watts per capita
#	Country	2011	2013
1	Cyprus	609	551
2	Austria	397	419
3	Greece	253	263
4	Germany	130	150
5	Malta	80	83
6	Denmark	78	108
7	Slovenia	65	72
8	Portugal	58	68
9	Czech Republic	53	65
10	Spain	41	48
11	Luxembourg	37	51
12	Sweden	35	36
12	Netherlands	35	37
14	Italy	34	43
15	Ireland	27	43
15	Belgium	27	34
17	France	25	27
18	Slovakia	19	21
19	Poland	17	27
20	Bulgaria	11	8
21	Hungary	9	14
22	United Kingdom	7	7
23	Finland	5	6
24	Romania	4	6
24	Latvia	4	6
26	Estonia	1	4
27	Lithuania	1	3
28	Croatia	n.a.	23
	EU average	55	62

Organisations

• SolarPower Europe is a member-led association representing organisations active along the whole value chain that aim's to ensure that more energy is generated by solar than any other energy source by 2030 and to lead their members to make solar the core of a smart, sustainable, secure and inclusive energy system to reach carbon neutrality before 2050.

• The European Solar Manufacturing Council is an industry association that represents European solar photovoltaics (PV) manufacturers, research and development organizations, and companies engaged in the upstream PV industry in Europe. ESMC's primary objective is to promote the PV manufacturing industry and its associated value chains at the European level by fostering a supporting political environment.

See also

• Renewable energy
• Energy
• European Union

• Desertec
• Dye-sensitized solar cell
• European countries by fossil fuel use (% of total energy)
• Photovoltaic Energy Development and Research Institute
• Renewable energy in the European Union
• Solar cell efficiency
• Solar power by country

References

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7. Photovoltaic barometer 208 February 2012
8. Lubbe, Anne (12 September 2012). "Denmark reaches 2020-goal for solar energy before time". um.dk (Press release). Archived from the original on 19 October 2012.
9. "Razgrabljeni poticaji za solarne elektrane".
10. "Photovoltaic energy barometer 2010 – EurObserv'ER".
11. "Photovoltaic energy barometer 2011 – EurObserv'ER".
12. Photovoltaic energy barometer 2012 – EurObserv’ER
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14. ^ Photovoltaic energy barometer 2013 – EurObserv’ER
15. ^ Photovoltaic energy barometer 2014 – EurObserv’ER
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19. "Photovoltaic barometer 2018". 28 April 2018.
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21. "Photovoltaic barometer 2020". 30 April 2020.
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23. "Population change - Demographic balance and crude rates at national level (DEMO_GIND)". Eurostat. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
24. "Concentrating Solar Power" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 January 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
25. Goodman, Al (3 October 2011). "Spain's round-the-clock solar power plant". CNN.
26. CSP Today, 11 April 2014 "Italian project shows strong potential for sand based CSP"
27. ^ EurObserv'ER: Solar thermal and concentrated solar power barometer - May 2012
28. ^ EurObserv'ER: Solar thermal and concentrated solar power barometer - May 2014 Archived 6 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine
29. "Solar Thermal Action Plan for Europe ESTIF, 1/2007" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2007.
30. http://www.estif.org/ European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF) Solar Thermal Markets in Europe - Trends and Market Statistics in 2013, June 2014 archive
31. http://www.estif.org European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF) Solar Thermal Markets in Europe - Trends and Market Statistics in 2011, June 2012 archive
32. http://www.estif.org European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF) Solar Thermal Markets in Europe - Trends and Market Statistics in 2010, June 2011 archive
33. http://www.eurobserv-er.org - EurObserv'ER Solar thermal and concentrated solar power barometer for 2010, May 2011, archive
34. http://www.estif.org European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF) Solar Thermal Markets in Europe - Trends and Market Statistics in 2009, June 2010 archive
35. Solar Thermal Markets in Europe - Trends and Market Statistics in 2008, May 2009 archive
36. since 2010 overseas departments excluded
37. Solar Thermal Markets in Europe, Trends and market statistics 2006 Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine European Solar Thermal Industry Federation ESTIF, June 2007
38. "Solar Thermal Markets in Europe, Trends and market statistics 2008" (PDF). Retrieved 24 April 2011.
39. estif.org - European Solar Thermal Industry Federation Solar Thermal Markets in Europe, Trends and market statistics 2009
40. estif.org - European Solar Thermal Industry Federation Solar Thermal Markets in Europe, Trends and market statistics 2010, June 2011
41. "SolarPower Europe". Retrieved 11 March 2020.
42. "European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC)". Retrieved 12 January 2024.

External links

• Solar energy in the European Union
• Electric power in the European Union
• Solar power in the European Union