Photovoltaic Boom in Germany Continues in 2024 - One Million New Solar Installations And New Record Capacity

Münster, Germany - The photovoltaic boom in Germany will continue unabated in 2024. As in the previous year, the mark of one million newly commissioned solar systems was exceeded and a new record capacity was installed. There are many reasons for the boom.

In order to achieve the expansion target of an 80% share of renewable energies in the electricity sector by 2030, solar capacity is to increase to 215 GW (215,000 MW) according to the plans of the old German government. By the end of 2024, almost half of the 2030 expansion target will have been achieved with a PV capacity of just under 100,000 MW.

Solar energy: annual expansion in Germany climbs to over 16,000 MW - new all-time high

In Germany, over one million solar installations with an capacity of more than 16,000 MW went into operation in 2024. This is the result of the first evaluation of data from the market master data register kept by the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) as of December 28, 2024 by the Internationales Wirtschaftsforum Regenerative Energien (IWR) in Münster.

The rapid PV boom will continue for the second year in a row in 2024 with a new annual installed capacity of over 15,000 MW. In the last three years (2022-2024), solar systems with around 40,000 MW have been newly connected to the electricity grid - that is almost as much as in the entire previous eleven-year period between 2011 and 2021, according to the IWR.

Total solar capacity in Germany reaches almost 100,000 MW - energy transition has reached the people

According to the latest data from the Federal Network Agency, the total capacity of all installed solar systems in Germany will climb to over 99,200 MW by the end of 2024. Due to the expected late registrations, the total PV capacity may even approach the 100,000 MW mark. The expansion path set out in Section 4 of the EEG 2023 envisages a total PV capacity of 88,000 MW in Germany by 2024. This interim target has already been significantly exceeded; the next target is 128,000 MW for 2026.

The ongoing solar boom in Germany is the result of many different factors: “With low-cost photovoltaics, the energy transition has reached people directly and become a participatory project,” says Dr. Norbert Allnoch from IWR.

Current solar trends: balcony power plants and large systems with an capacity of over 5 MW

Two main trends will crystallize in 2024. Above all, the trend towards small balcony power plants (up to 2 kW capacity) continues. In 2024, the number of registered balcony power plants rose by 41 % to over 430,000 (2023: around 305,000).

The PV power category above 2 kW and up to 30 kW also remains very popular, with around 575,000 systems with around 6,100 MW of solar power installed last year.

There has been a significant increase in large-scale PV systems with an capacity of over 5 MW. In this segment, around 370 solar power plants (2023: around 270) with approx. 5,100 MW (2023: around 3,400 MW) were commissioned in 2024.

Note: The data evaluation of the market master data register at the BNetzA reflects the status as of 28.12.2024 and represents a snapshot. Statistical changes (including retroactive changes) are possible at any time due to individual subsequent notifications of installations or corrections to the installation register by the BNetzA. The uncertainties do not lead to changes in the trend statements.

Source: IWR Online, 07 Jan 2025