What is Solarpower Europe?

SolarPower Europe is the award-winning link between policymakers and the solar PV value chain. Get to know the SolarPower Europe team working to transform the European energy system. Get to know everything about solar power. Interested in joining SolarPower Europe?

Is the EU ready for solar energy?

The EU has long been a front-runner in the roll-out of solar energy. Under the European Green Deal and the REPowerEU plan, solar power is a building block of the EU’s transition to cleaner energy. Its accelerated deployment contributes to reducing the EU’s dependence on imported fossil fuels.

Which EU countries use solar energy?

The closest EU Member state is Finland at 43.1%. Yet Sweden’s total solar energy output is only 1%. On the other hand, Cyprus is proportionally one of Europe’s leading users of solar energy, behind only Greece. Yet other renewable energy sources cumulatively still provide less than the island’s reliance on the sun.

How much solar energy does the EU need?

In the plan laid out by the European Commission, solar energy production has a key role in hitting these targets. As the fastest-growing source of renewable energy in the EU, the EU installed a combined 41.4 GW of solar in 2022, up 47% from 2021. To put this into context, 41.4 GW is enough to power 12.4 million homes.

Will Europe have a solar energy future?

A factor that may seem obvious for the future of European solar energy that hasn’t materialised in a strong correlation yet, is climate. Despite already impressing with its renewable energy numbers and being far from Europe’s sunniest country, Germany leads solar capacity by some distance.

Is solar power growing in Europe?

Solar power is growing in every EU country. 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.