EU solar deployment doubles in 2019 - SolarPower Europe

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email

The EU’s solar market doubled in 2019 with 16.7GW of deployment, up 104% on the 8.2GW installed in 2018, according to a report by the association SolarPower Europe.

The trend of growth extends all across the bloc, with 26 out of 28 EU nations deploying more solar than the year before, said SPE’s first 'EU Market Outlook for Solar Power'.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Spain leads the way with 4.7GW in 2019, the first time it has held this pole position since 2008, more than a decade ago.

The top markets were:

  1. Spain (4.7GW)
  2. Germany (4GW)
  3. The Netherlands (2.5 GW)
  4. France (1.1GW)
  5. Poland (784MW)

Spain has entered a new era and with unmatched solar resources and a change in political will. Germany has continued strong demand forecasts with a new installation target for 2030. The Netherlands was described as having no signs of fatigue. France is set to become an annual multiple gigawatt-scale market. Meanwhile, Poland, whose capacity quadrupled this year, is also seen as a bright spot.

By the end of this year, the EU is set to have reached 131.9GW of cumulative installed PV capacity, a growth of 14% over the 115.2GW operating in 2018.

Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SPE, said: “Solar in the European Union is thriving. We have entered a new era of solar growth, with more new solar capacity installed than any other power generation technology in 2019.”

Increased demand is partly the result of solar’s cost-competitiveness, said Aurélie Beauvais, policy director of SPE, but the binding national 2020 renewable energy targets for EU countries are also a key driver. Countries also now have their eye further ahead on compliance with the European Commission’s Clean Energy Package, which sets a 32% renewables target by 2030.

The 2019 ‘Clean Energy for All Europeans’ legislative package also contains many pro-solar provisions that will support the dissemination of PV power until 2030. As the most versatile, easy to install and often lowest-cost means of expanding the share of renewables, solar is also the most popular power generation source among European citizens.

Going forward, PV in the EU is expected to grow by 26% in 2020, bringing demand to 21GW, followed by 21.9GW in 2021, 24.3GW in 2022, and 26.8GW in 2023.

SPE said that smarter regulations were required for grid integration in the future.

The prospects and challenges of solar's new era in Europe and beyond will take centre stage at Solar Media's Solar Finance & Investment Europe (London, 5-6 February) and Large Scale Solar Europe 2020 (Lisbon, on 31 March-1 April 2020).

25 November 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Large Scale Solar Central and Eastern Europe continues to be the place to leverage a network that has been made over more than 10 years, to build critical partnerships to develop solar projects throughout the region.
2 December 2025
Málaga, Spain
Understanding PV module supply to the European market in 2026. PV ModuleTech Europe 2025 is a two-day conference that tackles these challenges directly, with an agenda that addresses all aspects of module supplier selection; product availability, technology offerings, traceability of supply-chain, factory auditing, module testing and reliability, and company bankability.
10 March 2026
Frankfurt, Germany
The conference will gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing out to 2030 and beyond.

Read Next

July 3, 2025
Spanish IPP Zelestra has secured a €235 million (US$277 million) increase to its sustainability-linked loan, bringing the total to €770 million.
Premium
July 3, 2025
Meeting the UK’s solar targets will not simply require the installation of new capacity, but investment in grid infrastructure and training.
July 3, 2025
TotalEnergies has expanded its renewables assets in the Caribbean, sold a stake in projects in Portugal and begun construction on two PV parks in Spain.
July 2, 2025
Asset management firm Capital Dynamics has secured €110 million (US$129.4 million) in financing for three solar PV projects in Spain.
July 1, 2025
Solar developer ib vogt has sold a 110MW solar PV plant in Spain to international fund NextPower V ESG, which is operated by investment firm NextEnergy Capital (NEC).
July 1, 2025
French private equity firm Ardian Clean Energy Evergreen Fund (ACEEF) has bought 117 solar PV plants, worth 116MW of total capacity in several locations in Italy.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Media Partners, Solar Media Events
September 2, 2025
Mexico City, Mexico
Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece
Solar Media Events
September 22, 2025
Bilbao, Spain
Solar Media Events
September 30, 2025
Seattle, USA
Solar Media Events
October 1, 2025
London, UK