European Residential Solar Market (by Accumulated Installation, Accumulated Capacity, & Region): Insights and Forecast with Potential Impact of COVID-19 (2022-2027)

A residential solar PV system is one that generates less than or equal to 250kW of power. A typical residential solar panel installation of 65 by 39 inches has 72 cells.

The use of nonrenewable fuels and other sorts of energy resources endangers the environment, making solar power more crucial than ever. Solar energy consumption has expanded considerably in recent years in both industrialized and developing nations. Solar energy is presently one of the most economical and readily available renewable energy sources for European households. Based on current market trends, it may be able to meet up to 20% of the EU's power demands by 2040. The growth of residential solar energy installations is a critical step towards clean energy and climate neutrality. The European residential solar market, in terms of accumulated capacity is anticipated to reach 49.73 GW in 2023, progressing at a CAGR of 9.60%, during the forecasted period.

Segment Covered

By Accumulated Installation: In terms of accumulated installation, the European residential solar market can be bifurcated into five major regions: Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, and Rest of Europe. Germany is the largest solar market in Europe as well as the largest solar PV operator, owing to the German government's implementation of a subsidy for residential installations of solar PV panels with battery storage in 2016.

By Accumulated Capacity: On the basis of accumulated capacity, the European residential solar market can be split into nine primary regions: Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Belgium, the UK, Sweden, Spain, and the Rest of Europe. Due to the removal of the Sun tax on self-consumption in 2020, automated excess recompense, as well as collective and through-the-network facilities, the Spanish residential solar market is believed to be the fastest growing market. Since then, the market for final consumers has steadily gained traction.

Top Impacting Factors

Growth Drivers

• Decline in the Cost Of Solar Power
• Surging Demand For Electrification In Society
• Higher And More Volatile Electricity Prices
• Increased Support From Government

Challenges

• Value-chain Disruption

Trends

• Use of Artificial Intelligence
• Short Payback Time For Residential Solar In Europe
• European Solar Rooftops Initiative
• National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs)

Driver: Decline in the Cost Of Solar Power

Solar energy production is divided by lifetime costs to calculate the levelized costs of energy (LCOE). To compare the financial viability of each photovoltaic tracking technology, the Levelized Costs of Energy (LCOE) calculation is used. In Europe, the solar PV levelized cost of electricity is declining. Costs have decreased dramatically over the past decade, though they are gradually levelling off, mostly due to improvements in photovoltaic (PV) module efficiency. Solar power generation costs have decreased as a result of scaling economies, continuously improved technologies, and competitive supply chains. Solar energy is becoming economically viable at lower scales and at more sites as a result of a significant decrease in cost. The residential solar industry in Europe is therefore driven by people spending more on solar power system installation as the cost of solar energy decreases.

Challenge: Value-chain Disruption

The supply chain for the European residential solar market has recently become more clogged, with inconsistencies in hardware delivery. With few pan-European challenges, this has mostly been witnessed locally. The inverters are the main source of the hardware supply problems. In recent years, there has also been a dearth of workforce in many countries, linked to mismatches between supply and demand: inactivity, a re-evaluation of work, cross-border mobility of workers and the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and longer lead times to increase supply to keep up with the rapidly increasing demand. As a result, it apparently takes longer for customers to get residential solar power systems installed once they order them. Therefore, prolonged value chain disruption has been a challenge to the residential solar market in Europe.

Trend: Use of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is a simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, particularly computer systems. A new artificial intelligence tool that analyzes how much power a rooftop system would produce and when customers would see a return on their investment is intended to replace the requirement for human experts to visit houses and provide quotations. Based on satellite images of the roof and the household's energy usage patterns, the new solar assessment tool uses machine learning to determine the best solar product for a particular home. The solar evaluation tool enables consumers to rapidly determine if solar makes economic sense for them online in light of anticipated increases in retail electricity costs. Hence, the use artificial intelligence would help the overall growth of residential solar market as it would attract more potential customers.

The COVID-19 Analysis

The COVID-19 brought in many changes in the world, problems with cash flow, recovering payments from distributors, working capital needs, labor shortages, and mostly supply chain interruptions, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulted in the downfall in demand for residential solar products and services, which eventually had a negative impact on its market growth in initial phase, however the demand for solar systems increased as most of the European countries focused on renewable energy sector for recovery from COVID impact on economy. Despite challenging market conditions on a number of fronts, including the ongoing detrimental effects of COVID-19 on residential solar PV product supply constraints and ensuing solar module price increases, residential solar power in Europe once again shown a stellar performance in 2021 and is expected to perform even better in the post COVID era.

Analysis of Key Players

The European residential solar market is highly competitive. In a highly competitive market environment, providers must offer affordable and effective products to thrive. Further, key players in the European residential solar market are Zonneplan, Otovo ASA, Columbus Energy SA, SolarNRG, Engie SA (Sungevity Europe), Enpal GmbH, AutoBinck Group (Zelfstroom), Koolen Industries (BonGo Solar), Svea Solar, Victron Energy, Hanwha Group (Hanwha Qcells), Luxor Solar GmbH, Zolar Gmbh, and DZ-4 GmbH.