European Union wants to accelerate a large-scale rollout of solar energy while also rebuilding Europe’s solar manufacturing industry. The plan is part of the bloc’s strategy to end its reliance on Russian fossil fuels, especially natural gas, by 2030. As part of the plan, the EU introduced several measures, ranging from the doubling of the rate of deployment of heat pumps to establishing ‘go-to’ areas for renewables. Among these measures, the European Commission has also |introduced the “solar rooftop initiative” which would make it mandatory to install solar panels on new public and commercial buildings, as well as new residential buildings by 2029.
Half of the EU’s energy would come from renewable sources by 2030, more than double the current amount, according to the European Commission’s plan, named RepowerEU. This would cost hundreds of billions of euros, but much of that money would come from savings on imported fuel. Still, to achieve this, swift action is required. As part of the REPowerEU plan, the EU aims to bring online over 320 GW of solar photovoltaic energy by 2025 (more than doubling compared to 2020) and almost 600 GW by 2030. Solar delivered about 5% of the total EU electricity generation in 2020. To reach the 2030 target, the EU would have to install, on average, 45 GW per year.