Germany installs 17.5 GW of solar in 2025, progress toward 2030 target slows

Germany connected around 17.5 GW of new photovoltaic capacity in 2025, taking total installed solar to roughly 118 GW by year-end, according to preliminary estimates from the German Solar Association (BSW-Solar). The figure is broadly in line with the 17.7 GW deployed in 2024. Final numbers from the Market Master Data Register are still pending, as new systems can be registered up to four weeks after commissioning.

Growth was uneven across market segments. Ground-mounted plants accounted for about 8 GW of new capacity, while large commercial rooftops added roughly 3.7 GW. Residential rooftop systems contributed around 5.2 GW, and plug-in balcony units an estimated 500 MW. Year on year, output from solar parks and balcony systems increased by about 25%, but C&I rooftop systems above 30 kW slipped by roughly 5%. The sharpest decline came from small rooftop systems up to 30 kW, where additions fell by about 25% compared with the 6.8 GW installed in 2024.

BSW-Solar warned that the overall pace of PV expansion cooled in 2025. To reach the government’s goal of 215 GW of installed solar by 2030, Germany will need to sustain around 20 GW of new capacity per year in the coming years; with about 118 GW now online, the country has achieved roughly 55% of that target.

Against this backdrop, the association urged Berlin not to further weaken the policy framework. It pointed to subsidy cuts for rooftop systems introduced under the Solar Peak Act at the start of 2025 and reiterated concerns over repeated calls by Economics Minister Katherina Reiche to scale back support for small rooftop PV on the grounds that many systems are already economical. Instead, BSW-Solar managing director Carsten Körnig called on the federal government to remove remaining market barriers and avoid any additional deterioration of funding conditions for new PV projects.