Solar power provided almost a quarter of the EU’s renewable electricity in 2024, as installed capacity continued to climb.
Renewables supplied 47.5% of the EU’s electricity consumption in 2024, with solar photovoltaics (PV) — panels that convert sunlight into electricity — accounting for 23.4% of that renewable share, the European Commission revealed in a report on Thursday.
In June 2025, solar was the largest single source of electricity generation in the EU for the first time.
The EU’s installed solar PV capacity reached an estimated 406 gigawatts (GW) in 2025, up from 338 GW in 2024, figures from industry group SolarPower Europe cited in the same update showed.
That 2025 total exceeded the 380 GW target set for 2025 in the EU’s 2022 Solar Energy Strategy, according to SolarPower Europe.
Solar heating and rooftop systems
Around 11 million rooftops in Europe are equipped with solar thermal and thermal storage systems, which use the sun’s heat mainly for hot water and space heating, the update said.
Mainland Europe had 41 GW of installed solar thermal capacity in 2023.
Germany had the largest installed solar thermal capacity at 13,285 megawatts thermal (MWth), followed by Greece at 4,202 MWth and Italy at 3,829 MWth.
Solar PV employment worldwide was estimated at 7.2 million jobs in 2024, with 10.6% of those in the EU — about 764,400 people — according to the International Renewable Energy Agency’s Annual Review 2025 cited in the update.
Solar heating and cooling accounted for about 19,000 jobs and concentrated solar power for about 5,000 jobs.
