Germany installed 16.2 GW of new solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in 2025, according to an analysis by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) based on data from the energy-charts.info platform.
By the end of 2025, Germany’s cumulative installed solar PV capacity reached 116.8 GW, exceeding the federal government’s target of 108 GW set for the year. Annual additions in 2025 were broadly in line with those recorded in 2024 by the German Federal Network Agency. However, to stay on track for its next milestone, Germany will need to significantly accelerate deployment, with around 22 GW of new solar PV installations required in 2026.
The expansion of installed capacity led to a sharp increase in solar power generation. Electricity produced by solar PV systems reached 87 TWh in 2025, representing a 21% year-on-year increase. Of this total, 71 TWh was fed into the public grid, while 16.9 TWh was consumed on-site. Self-consumption rose from 12.2 TWh in 2024, reflecting continued growth in behind-the-meter solar, driven by high electricity prices and rising adoption of energy storage systems.
Fraunhofer ISE noted that the surge in solar generation was not limited to Germany but reflected a broader trend across the European Union. In 2025, EU-wide solar PV generation exceeded the combined output from lignite and hard coal for the first time, reaching 275 TWh, compared with 243 TWh from coal-fired generation. Over the past decade, solar PV generation in the EU has tripled, while electricity generation from coal has declined by around 60%.
Germany also set new records for solar power integration in 2025. On 20 June 2025, solar PV fed a peak of 50.4 GW into the grid between 12:45 pm and 1:00 pm, accounting for 98.6% of the total power load at that time. One day later, solar energy reached its highest daily share, supplying 41.2% of total electricity demand.
Beyond solar PV, other clean energy technologies also expanded rapidly. Large-scale battery energy storage installations increased by 60% year on year, rising from 2.3 GWh to 3.7 GWh in 2025. Germany now has nearly 25 GWh of installed battery storage capacity, with around 20 GWh coming from residential storage systems.
“The ramp-up of large-scale battery storage is fundamentally changing the way the German electricity system works,” said Leonhard Gandhi, project manager for Energy Charts at Fraunhofer ISE. “While effects on short-term flexibility provision are already visible, systemic impacts, such as on reserve power plants, can only be estimated at this stage.”
Gandhi added that these developments mean battery storage must be explicitly considered in expansion planning, system planning, and electricity market design as Germany continues its energy transition.
