Italy added 1.4GW of new solar PV capacity in the first three months of 2026, according to data from trade body Italia Solare.
Both residential solar (-13%) and utility-scale systems (-9%) have experienced a year-on-year decline compared with numbers from 2025; however, the commercial and industrial (C&I) sector grew by 24% compared with numbers from Q1 2025.
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The figures for each sector confirmed the trends already observed in 2025, when annual installations decreased to 6.4GW.
C&I remains steady, utility-scale grows
Residential solar continues its slowdown – since the end of the 110% Superbonus scheme in 2023 – with only 313MW of new installed capacity in Q1 2026, while the C&I sector maintains a decent portion of additions, with 566MW. The Italian trade body added that even though C&I represents a significant part of the market, there are no signs of a strong acceleration in the coming months.
On the other hand, despite a year-on-year decrease, there was still 560MW of new utility-scale solar PV capacity added in Q1 2026 across 159 projects. Projects of 10MW or more continue to represent a bigger part of the utility-scale market.
The growth of utility-scale solar is poised to continue in the coming years, especially after the recent FER-X auction, which awarded 7.69GW solar PV in December 2025. A further 1.1GW of capacity was awarded for solar PV under the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA) non-price criteria auction, which aims to diversify the supply chain of solar PV products and reduce Europe’s dependence on China.
Earlier this month, PV Tech heard that Italy was “definitely” the most attractive European market for solar PV development, largely due to the government’s auctions and incentives for installations.
Italia Solare added that January saw a slowdown in systems above 1MW, which recovered in February and March, but Q1 2026 numbers are still lower than needed for Italy to reach its target of 6-7GW of annual solar PV installations.
Cumulatively, at the end of March 2026, Italy had nearly 45GW of installed solar PV, which means it took about seven months to go from 40GW to 45GW.
“In this first quarter, the data confirms the downward trend seen in 2025, and in any case, not the growth needed to reach the 79 GW target by 2030. What we expect in the coming months is a recovery, especially in the residential and C&I sectors, precisely in response to the rising energy costs.
“Photovoltaic, in fact, is the only technology—combined with storage systems—that can effectively and quickly address the needs of families and businesses to reduce their electricity bills,” said Paolo Rocco Viscontini, president of Italia Solare.
Lombardy reaches 6GW of cumulative solar PV
Region-wise, the northern region of Lombardy was the leading Italian region in new PV capacity for the first three months of 2026 with 266MW. These new additions brought the region’s total to over 6GW, the most of any Italian region.
The other two regions with the most additions in Q1 2026 are also located in the northern part of the country, with Veneto and Piedmont adding 178MW and 168MW, respectively.
All three regions saw significant growth during Q1 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, while Sardinia, Lazio and Umbria registered the largest drops at 276%, 199% and 114%, respectively.
