Germany reaches 2026 solar target with 128 GWp

A milestone has been reached on Germany’s rooftops and open land: Installed solar capacity has exceeded 128 gigawatts peak (GWp). According to the German Solar Industry Association, this means the expansion target for 2026 has been reached ahead of schedule. GWp describes how much electricity solar installations can produce under maximum conditions.

The achievement brings the next hurdle into immediate view. The law sets targets of 172 gigawatts for 2028, 215 gigawatts for 2030 and 400 gigawatts for 2040. According to BSW-Solar, around 87 gigawatts still need to be added by 2030. Around 17.5 GWp was installed in each of the past two years; 20 GWp per year would be needed.

The strong start to the year is not yet evidence of a sustained increase in the pace of expansion. According to BSW-Solar, just over 7.5 GWp was added in the first half of 2026, slightly more than in the same period a year earlier. However, the association suspects that pull-forward effects also played a role, as a subsidy is being phased out.

In concrete terms, the milestone means that Germany has reached a statutory interim target for expansion, but will have to move faster to meet the next ones. BSW-Solar warns that planned changes to the policy framework could slow the expansion. The current draft to revise the Renewable Energy Sources Act leaves the targets unchanged.

The association is therefore calling for improvements to the 2027 amendment to the Renewable Energy Sources Act approved by the Federal Cabinet and to the grid connection package. Its reasoning is both technical and practical: reliable conditions are needed for more photovoltaic systems and battery storage. In this assessment, whether the pace of expansion increases depends less on the target that has been reached than on the conditions for the next installations.