Turning to the sun: Solar rise in Central Europe

This report by Ember analyzes the rapid growth of solar electricity generation in Central Europe (Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia) from 2019 to 2024. It highlights how the region has outpaced the EU average in solar growth despite low political ambition and a historical reliance on coal, while also examining the region's role as a battery manufacturing hub and the current gaps in grid flexibility and storage deployment.

• Between 2019 and 2024, solar electricity generation in Central Europe grew nearly six times faster than the EU average. Cumulative output in Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia rose from 5 TWh to 29 TWh, while the EU's total increased 2.5-fold from 125 TWh to 308 TWh.
• Hungary has emerged as a global leader in solar generation share, with solar contributing nearly 25% of its electricity generation in 2024. In June 2025, solar power reached a monthly record by supplying 42% of Hungary's electricity.
• Poland has seen a massive surge in solar PV, with generation increasing more than twentyfold from 0.7 TWh in 2019 to 15 TWh in 2024. By June 2025, the number of solar prosumers exceeded 1.5 million and cumulative installed capacity reached 23 GW.
• Czechia's solar output nearly doubled between 2019 (2.3 TWh) and 2024 (4 TWh). The country legalised agri-PV in 2024 and now classifies projects over 15 MW as "energy security" facilities to accelerate permitting.
• Slovakia lagged behind its regional peers due to high costs and an eight-year moratorium on grid connections that lasted until April 2021. However, it recently added 267 MW of capacity in 2023 and 274 MW in 2024.
• Despite solar growth, Central Europe lacks sufficient battery storage. As of August 2025, the region had only 0.1 GW of large-scale batteries, representing less than 2% of the EU's capacity. Poland has a significant pipeline of 7.3 GW, while Hungary's pipeline is virtually absent.
• The region is a major global hub for battery manufacturing. As of January 2025, Hungary hosted nearly 40% of the EU's cell assembly capacity, and Poland is among the world's top three battery exporters.
• National renewable energy targets for 2030 in Central Europe remain below the EU average of 66%. Projected shares for 2030 are 51% for Poland, 42% for Hungary, 31% for Czechia, and 26% for Slovakia.

APA

Mindeková, T., & Petrovich, B. (2025). Turning to the sun: Solar rise in Central Europe. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/09/Report-Turning-to-the-sun_-Solar-rise-in-Central-Europe.pdf

Chicago

Mindeková, Tatiana, and Beatrice Petrovich. Turning to the sun: Solar rise in Central Europe. Ember, 2025. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/09/Report-Turning-to-the-sun_-Solar-rise-in-Central-Europe.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Mindeková |first1=Tatiana |last2=Petrovich |first2=Beatrice |title=Turning to the sun: Solar rise in Central Europe |publisher=Ember |date=10 September 2025 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/09/Report-Turning-to-the-sun_-Solar-rise-in-Central-Europe.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mindekov2025turning, author = {Mindeková, Tatiana and Petrovich, Beatrice}, title = {{Turning to the sun: Solar rise in Central Europe}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2025}, month = sep, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/09/Report-Turning-to-the-sun_-Solar-rise-in-Central-Europe.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }