Growth rate of new solar PV systems in Germany down slightly in 2025
Clean Energy Wire / PV magazine
The rate of growth of new solar PV system in Germany has slowed down slightly in 2025, from around 27 percent in 2023 and 2024, to 17.6 percent last year, said Germany's Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Almost 4.8 million photovoltaic systems with a capacity of 106,000 megawatt were installed in the country at the end of 2025, up from about 4 million one year before, Destatis said.
The statistical office's data includes photovoltaic systems that feed into the public grid and have an electricity meter that measures the amount of electricity they provide. Smaller systems, such as so-called “balcony power plants”, are therefore not included. Lobby group BSW Solar puts the total number of solar PV systems in Germany at around 5.5 million. The group also said that newly added capacity of solar PV systems decreased only slightly, from 17.7 gigawatt peak (GWp) in 2024 to 17.5 GWp in 2025.
The value of imported photovoltaic cells and solar power modules fell by 7.8 percent compared to 2024, to 1.8 billion euros. This was likely due to lower prices, wrote PV magazine. Almost 90 percent of the systems came from China, said Destatis.
Meanwhile, solar module production fell significantly in Germany in the first three quarters of 2025, said the statistical office. Compared to the same period last year, the number of solar modules produced fell by 60.6 percent to 509,200 units. Solar module production in Germany had already declined significantly in 2024, when around 1.5 million solar modules were produced for sale. In 2023, it had been 3.5 million modules.
Far from being a sun-drenched country, Germany boasts one of the world's highest solar power outputs. The country triggered the large-scale launch of the technology with guaranteed feed-in tariffs in the year 2000, propelling its companies to global leadership. But before long, cheaper Asian competitors and subsidy cuts forced most of them out of business. Recently, solar installations have greatly picked up once again in Germany, thanks to the country's ambitious renewable targets and dwindling panel prices.