Germany installed 16.2GW solar PV in 2025
- Özcan Berk Atakan
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Germany continued its strong solar momentum in 2025, installing 16.2 GW of new solar PV capacity, according to an analysis by Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, based on data from the energy-charts.info platform. This expansion pushed the country’s cumulative installed solar capacity to 116.8 GW by the end of the year—comfortably surpassing the federal government’s 108 GW target for 2025.
While annual additions were broadly in line with 2024 figures reported by the German Federal Network Agency, the outlook for the coming years is more demanding. To stay on track with national climate and energy targets, Germany will need to install around 22 GW of new solar capacity in 2026, a substantial acceleration compared to recent deployment rates.
Solar Generation Reaches New Highs
The surge in installed capacity translated directly into higher electricity generation. Solar PV plants produced 87 TWh of electricity in 2025, representing a 21% increase year-on-year. Of this total:
71 TWh was fed into the public grid
16.9 TWh was consumed directly on-site via self-consumption systems
Self-consumption continues to gain traction in Germany, rising from 12.2 TWh in 2024, driven by persistently high electricity prices and the rapid adoption of battery storage—particularly in residential systems.
Solar Overtakes Coal at the EU Level
Germany’s solar growth is part of a wider European trend. Across the European Union, electricity generation from solar PV exceeded the combined output of lignite and hard coal for the first time ever in 2025, reaching 275 TWh, compared to 243 TWh from coal. Over the past decade, solar generation has tripled, while coal-fired power generation has fallen by around 60%, marking a structural shift in Europe’s power mix.
Record-Breaking Days for the German Grid
The operational impact of solar was especially visible in June 2025. On 20 June, the German grid recorded a solar PV feed-in peak of 50.4 GW between 12:45 and 13:00, covering 98.6% of the instantaneous power load. Just one day later, solar reached its highest-ever share of total daily electricity demand, supplying 41.2% of the country’s power over the entire day.
These milestones highlight both the scale of Germany’s solar fleet and the growing importance of system flexibility to manage variable generation.
Battery Storage: A Systemic Game Changer
Alongside solar PV, battery energy storage systems (BESS) saw rapid growth in 2025. Large-scale battery installations increased by 60% year-on-year, rising from 2.3 GWh to 3.7 GWh. In total, Germany now has nearly 25 GWh of installed battery storage capacity, with approximately 20 GWh coming from residential home storage systems.
According to Fraunhofer ISE, this expansion is already reshaping short-term flexibility in the electricity system. However, broader systemic effects—such as impacts on reserve power plants and long-term market dynamics—are still emerging. As Leonhard Gandhi, project manager of Energy Charts at Fraunhofer ISE, notes, battery storage will need to be explicitly integrated into expansion planning, system design, and electricity market structures going forward.
Looking Ahead
Germany’s 2025 performance confirms solar PV as a central pillar of its energy transition. Yet, meeting future targets will require faster deployment, grid upgrades, and strategic integration of storage and flexibility solutions. The coming years will be decisive in determining whether Germany can scale its solar success from record-breaking moments into a fully resilient, low-carbon power system.
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